What is a Depot Injection?
Depot injections can have a duration of action of one month or greater and are available for many types of drugs, including antipsychotics (see Antipsychotic Depot (LAI) Injections & Monitoring) and hormones (see Depo-Provera (Contraceptive) Injections or Leuprorelin & Zoladex Injections ).
Contraceptive Injections
The contraceptive injection, Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (Depo-Provera), is given under the authority of a patient-specific direction which has been agreed in the practice. This means that a prescription is not needed, as we hold supplies of the injection.
A Depo-Provera injection (150mg) prevents pregnancy for 3 months, so the patient must have repeat injections for it to remain effective.
The Appointment Process
1️⃣ Booking an Appointment
- If a patient requests the contraceptive injection, ask them if they have had a previous dose. If they:
- have NOT had a previous injection, book an initial F2F or telephone appointment with a Pharmacist or GP and move on to step two.
- had the injection within the last 13 weeks, book a F2F appointment with a Practice Nurse or Nursing Associate and move on to step three.
- had the injection over 14 weeks ago, first advise them to seek emergency contraception (if they’ve had unprotected sex). Then, book a F2F appointment with a Practice Nurse or Nursing Associate and move on to step three.
Explain to the patient that the initial appointment will check their eligibility for the injection, and if they are suitable, a follow-up will be arranged.
2️⃣ Initial Assessment
- Open the ‘Contraception (Ardens)’ clinical template on EMIS.
- Complete page 2 of the template (’Assessment’), to assess the patients eligibility for the contraceptive injection.
- If the patient is eligible, book a follow-up F2F appointment with a Practice Nurse or Nursing Associate and add the Depo-Provera 150 mg injection to the medication list.
If you’d like further guidance with the assessment, see our Contraception page and/or the FRSH guidelines.
3️⃣ Follow-Up Appointment
- Open the Contraception (Ardens)’ clinical template on EMIS.
- Explain the side effects of the injection, using the resources below
- Administer the injection as per page 7 of the template (’Injection - Depo-Provera’), and using the technique detailed here.
- Ensure that the injection is documented in the Medications section of the patient’s notes, if not already done by the prescribing clinician (see below).
- Ensure that correct coding is added.
- Send the patient the AccuRX text ‘Depot contraceptive injection in 13 weeks’. This also sends them a reminder 2 weeks before their next dose is due.