About the Pharmacy Contraception Service

All pharmacies across Derbyshire offer the Pharmacy Contraception Service. This means they can offer you the contraceptive pill without prescription and you do not need to see your GP beforehand.

The contraceptive pill is free, whether you have a prescription or not. You can use this service if you already have a prescription for the contraceptive pill. You can also get the contraceptive pill from a pharmacy even if you don’t have a prescription.

Who is eligible for the contraceptive pill without a prescription?

Speak to a pharmacist about getting the contraceptive pill from the pharmacy if you wish to:

• start taking the contraceptive pill for the first time
• take the contraceptive pill again after a break from using it

What will happen in the pharmacy when you ask for the contraceptive pill without a prescription?

You will be invited to talk to the pharmacist in a private consultation room, exactly like you would find in a GP surgery. The pharmacist will ask about your general health and will measure your height, weight and blood pressure.

The pharmacist will then discuss how to take the pill and make you aware of possible side effects. They will offer you either the:

• combined pill
• progestogen-only pill

If the pharmacist does provide you with the contraceptive pill, they will let your let your GP know but only if you allow them to do so. Please note that your information will not be shared with anyone else.

Find your nearest pharmacy to access the Pharmacy Contraception Service

Click the link below to find the nearest pharmacy to you that offers the Pharmacy Contraception Service.

You can get free emergency contraception from your pharmacy.

The emergency contraceptive pill (morning after pill) can stop a pregnancy happening after sex without contraception or if contraception fails.

You need to take it within 3 or 5 days after sex, depending on the type of pill. The sooner you take an emergency contraceptive pill, the more likely it is to work.

What will happen in the pharmacy when you ask for emergency contraception?

The pharmacist will invite you into a private consultation room where they will talk to you, confidentially, about the emergency contraceptive pill.

If the pharmacist advises that the emergency contraceptive pill is right for you, they will discuss how to take it and make you aware of possible side effects. You can ask them any questions at any time.

Getting contraception if you’re under 16

Contraception is free and confidential, including for young people under the age of 16. 

The pharmacist will not tell anyone, including your parents or carer, unless they think you or someone else is at risk of harm.

Find your nearest pharmacy to access Emergency Contraception

Click the button below to find the nearest pharmacy to you that offers Emergency Contraception.