An unhurried conversation about which method actually suits you, not just what is quickest to prescribe.
Assessed and treated by a GMC-registered GP
Prescriptions, sick notes and referral letters included
A written treatment plan after every appointment
Your NHS records in the room, with your consent
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
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Registered with the Care Quality Commission
There are more contraceptive options than most people are ever offered, and the differences between them matter considerably more than the choice usually gets discussed.
The most important distinction is between methods that depend on you remembering and methods that do not. In real-world use the pill is around 91% effective — roughly one in eleven women using it will be pregnant within a year. The implant and the coils are over 99% effective, and that figure does not change with how organised anyone is, because there is nothing to remember. That gap is the single most useful fact in contraception and it is rarely stated plainly.
Two other things are worth knowing at the outset.
The monthly bleed on the combined pill is not a period, and it has no health benefit. It was designed into the original pill for acceptability, not for medicine. You can safely take the combined pill continuously and skip it — and many women prefer to once they know.
Migraine with aura and the combined pill do not mix. That combination raises stroke risk and is a firm contraindication. If you see visual disturbance before headaches, this matters.
Several methods have benefits beyond contraception, which can decide the choice:
These are firm contraindications rather than cautions, and they are the reason a proper assessment matters:
Progestogen-only methods, the implant and both coils are safe in almost all of these situations, which is why there is nearly always a good option available.
Ordinary antibiotics do not reduce the effectiveness of the pill — this advice changed years ago and is still widely repeated.
Choosing contraception is an assessment rather than a diagnosis, and it is one where a proper conversation genuinely changes the outcome.
We cannot fit or remove a coil or an implant — both are procedures. We can discuss whether one suits you, explain what fitting involves, and refer you to a sexual health clinic or a fitting service. Many are free on the NHS.
We also cannot examine you, so anything involving unexplained bleeding, pelvic pain or a suspected problem with an existing coil needs in-person assessment.
Bleeding after sex, bleeding between periods that is new and persistent, or any bleeding after the menopause is assessed on its own merits. It should not simply be attributed to a contraceptive without thought.
Pills, patches and rings are straightforward to prescribe remotely once eligibility is established, and the prescription reaches your pharmacy within minutes.
The seven-day break was built into the original pill so it would resemble a natural cycle. It confers no health benefit, and the bleed it produces is a withdrawal bleed rather than a true period.
Current guidance supports tailored regimens: taking it continuously, or in blocks of nine weeks or longer with a shorter four-day break. This means fewer bleeds, fewer of the headaches and mood dips that occur in the pill-free week, and — because a shorter break gives less chance for ovulation to escape — possibly slightly better effectiveness.
A great many women have never been told this is an option.
Suitable for almost everyone, including smokers over 35, women with migraine with aura, and those breastfeeding. The window matters: desogestrel allows 12 hours, while older traditional types allow only three. Knowing which you are on is important, and many women do not.
Desogestrel is now available over the counter, though a consultation is still worthwhile for the eligibility check and to discuss whether it is the best fit.
Rules differ by pill type. Broadly — for the combined pill, one missed pill: take it as soon as you remember and continue; no extra precautions needed. Two or more missed, or a missed pill in the first week after a break: use condoms for seven days, and consider emergency contraception. We go through your specific pill at the consultation and write it down.
Ongoing supplies, switching between methods, managing troublesome bleeding on a new method — all straightforward remotely. Irregular bleeding in the first three months of a new method is common and usually settles; abandoning it at week six is the commonest reason a method "did not suit".
Call 999 or go to A&E for:
These are the reasons the eligibility questions are asked before the combined pill is prescribed.
Seek same-day assessment for:
Book a consultation for:
Only condoms protect against sexually transmitted infections. No pill, coil or implant offers any protection, and a highly effective contraceptive can create a false sense of overall safety. With a new partner, use both — and consider screening.
Fertility returns immediately after stopping the pill, the implant or a coil — there is no need to "clear it from your system" first, and no benefit in waiting. The injection is the exception: it can take up to a year for fertility to return, which is worth knowing before choosing it if you may want to conceive soon.
All contraception is free on the NHS — including the methods that cost the most privately. That is the central fact here, and it makes most private contraception spending unnecessary.
Free from your GP or a sexual health clinic: the pill, the patch, the ring, the injection, the implant and both coils — including fitting and removal. Emergency contraception is free from sexual health clinics, many pharmacies and GP surgeries.
The methods worth knowing about are the long-acting ones, because the implant and the coils are substantially more effective than the pill — they remove the possibility of missed doses, which is where most pill failures come from. NICE specifically recommends discussing LARC methods with anyone requesting contraception, and they are consistently under-offered.
Where a private consultation is genuinely useful is speed and a proper conversation — twenty minutes to discuss options without feeling rushed, and a prescription the same day where you have run out.
The safety checks that matter, and which we will always do: blood pressure and BMI, migraine with aura — which is an absolute contraindication to the combined pill because of stroke risk and is regularly missed — smoking over 35, and clotting history.
Antibiotics do not reduce the pill's effectiveness, other than enzyme-inducing drugs. That advice changed years ago and is still widely repeated.
FSRH (Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare) guidance is the principal UK reference, alongside the UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (UKMEC), which classifies conditions from category 1 to 4 for each method.
UKMEC classifies migraine with aura as category 4 — an unacceptable health risk — for combined hormonal contraception, which is the basis for the point above.
NICE CG30, Long-acting reversible contraception, recommends that all women requesting contraception be given information about LARC methods, noting they are more effective than user-dependent methods.
FSRH guidance confirms that non-enzyme-inducing antibiotics do not reduce the efficacy of hormonal contraception.
FSRH also covers contraception in the perimenopause, including when contraception can safely be stopped, and the use of the levonorgestrel intrauterine system as the progestogen component of HRT.
No. The bleed on the combined pill is a withdrawal bleed, not a period, and it has no health benefit. It exists because the pill's designers thought it would make the method more acceptable. You can take the combined pill continuously, or in extended blocks with a short break — which means fewer bleeds and often fewer headaches and mood dips.
The implant, then the coils — all over 99%, and crucially that figure does not depend on you doing anything. The pill is over 99% if never missed but around 91% in real life, which is a substantial difference over years of use.
The combined pill has not been shown to cause weight gain in good-quality studies. The injection is the exception — it is genuinely associated with weight gain in some women. Fluid retention and breast fullness in the first couple of months are common and usually settle.
Not ordinary ones — that advice changed years ago and is still widely repeated. The exceptions are rifampicin and rifabutin, and enzyme-inducing drugs such as some anti-epileptics. St John's Wort does reduce effectiveness and is bought freely without anyone asking.
It depends entirely on whether you get aura — visual disturbance, tingling or speech difficulty before the headache. Migraine with aura is a firm contraindication to the combined pill because of stroke risk. Migraine without aura is usually fine. Progestogen-only methods, the implant and both coils are safe either way.
Immediately after stopping the pill, implant or a coil. There is no need to wait or to let it "clear". The injection is different — return of fertility can take up to a year, which is worth factoring in.
Some women do experience low mood on hormonal contraception, and it is a legitimate reason to switch rather than something to dismiss. The evidence at population level is mixed, but your experience of your own body is the relevant data. Different progestogens affect people differently, so a switch often solves it.
No — fitting is a procedure and cannot be done remotely. What we can do is discuss whether it suits you, explain what fitting involves, and refer you to a service that fits them. Many are free through NHS sexual health clinics.
August 23, 2026
Ongoing
Time to be seen
Appointment length
Your NHS record in the room
Written treatment plan
Told when a test isn’t needed
Cost
Same day, usually
20 minutes
Yes, with your consent
Included
Yes, and told why
£40 for 20 minutes
Varies by practice
Typically 10 minutes
Yes, your full record
Not routinely
Usually
Free
Same day
Often 10 to 15 minutes
Usually not
Sometimes charged
Varies by provider
Often a subscription
Same-day access is usually available, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. You choose a time that suits you rather than waiting on hold at 8am.
Yes. Care is led personally by Dr Mohammad Khan, so you are not passed between clinicians. Continuity is the point of a small practice: someone who knows your history and is listening attentively rather than working through a checklist.
Yes, with your consent. We can access your Summary Care Record during the consultation, so your current medications, allergies and significant history are in the room. That means fewer questions you have already answered elsewhere, and safer prescribing.
No. We are not here to replace GPs, only to support them. Your NHS practice remains responsible for your ongoing care, and with your consent we write to them after the consultation. We are useful when you need to be seen sooner, or want more time than a standard appointment allows.
Twenty unhurried minutes and a comprehensive assessment. A written treatment plan is included, along with any prescription, sick note or referral letter arising from the consultation, at no extra charge.
£40 for 20 minutes, self-pay. Membership is optional and never required. Priced for fairness, because we are not here to charge extortionate amounts for access to a doctor.
It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
Yes, where there is a genuine bacterial infection — cellulitis, impetigo, bacterial urine infections, confirmed strep throat. We will also frequently tell you that you do not need one. Most sore throats, coughs, colds and earaches are viral, and an antibiotic gives you the side effects with none of the benefit.
If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
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