Twenty-eight health centre walk-in sessions, which provide sexual health screening and contraception advice to a "significant proportion" of young people, are affected. Penny Oakeley, consultant in family planning and reproductive health care at Wandsworth Primary Care Trust, said: "The trust wants to cut 30,000 out of our budget from November until April, and 90,000 next year."
Oakeley said lack of funding has left the sessions unable to offer chlamydia testing. "Teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection reduction targets for young people will not be met next year as money is being used to plug deficits."
A Department of Health spokesman said: "We have invested record amounts of funding in sexual health - 300m over three years, as set out in the Choosing Health white paper. It is up to local NHS organisations to decide how to manage their budgets to deliver services to best meet local needs."
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