We’re being asked to run a 2020 service on a 2008 budget, Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond says.

“This pressure on our budget means we’re not delivering the service we want to deliver for many of our clients,” Ms Edmond says.

“We have not had a substantive increase in our contact funding for 12 years. In effect this means we are being asked to run our clinics on the same budget we got 12 years ago – despite population growth, escalating costs, more complex appointments and increasing demand for our services.”

Ms Edmond says the service was under pressure pre-Covid-19 lockdown and despite working harder and smarter during that time, the waiting time for calls to be answered and the delay in being able to access appointment has continued and is more significant than ever.

“This is not the way we want to work and we know it’s not the kind of service our clients are looking for. We working hard to do things smarter – offering as many services as possible over the phone for instance – but these are all short-term solutions until our funding increases.”