![]() “For some people the thought of going into a sexual health clinic is a real barrier to accessing support. It is clear there are times when remote support is needed and it helps us reach people who are unable or prefer not to attend services. ![]() Ms Radnor said: “While face-to-face appointments are still crucial, the benefits of the new ways of working are significant. The details are still being ironed out as regular STI testing also needs to be provided, but it is another example of how services can be delivered remotely. ‘Pandemic pushed us on 10 years’īuilding on the outcome of these successful interventions means that other services may be able to be offered in a variety of ways in the future, such as offering HIV preventative treatment (PrEP) by post. This offers a saving in terms of NHS time as well as the patient’s time and potentially the need to take additional time off from work or education. In addition, LARC (long-acting reversible contraception) assessment appointments are now provided as a telephone consultation, negating the need for the person to attend the clinic for two separate appointments. Ms Radnor said: “Some people may have questions around new partners, or a young person may have recently heard information in school that they would like to discuss.” ICaSH has also developed their asymptomatic service provision, with people being able to access a telephone consultation if they require any advice or support. This may be people who would otherwise slip through the net and not get the tests, treatment or support they need.” “We are also able to utilise this and the APT service for people who are unable to attend clinic for a face-to-face appointment. Ms Radnor said: “When we have had staff shortages for example, we have utilised the online symptomatic STI testing platform as a means of ensuring service provision. The learning and innovation from this work has continued to shape and improve services, with both models of service delivery remaining available in order to be deployed when needed. The remote offer played a vital role during the first 18 months of the pandemic, until face-to-face consultations began to be re-introduced in September 2021. Building a rapport with your patient over the phone is very different and consideration had to be given to check that the person was in a safe and appropriate place, for example not driving, not at work and in a confidential space.” Remote offer still playing a role “Staff training was provided to teams to ensure that they were appropriately equipped to undertake a telephone consultation, including additional online safeguarding guidance. “These changes and developments were implemented at such pace, virtually overnight, as a means of meeting the needs of the community in order to ensure that residents could continue to access vital contraceptive and sexual health services. Head of iCaSH Services Jo Radnor said: “Until Covid, symptomatic patients were seen in clinic for diagnosis, prompt treatment and partner notification. Due to lockdown, providers had to respond by offering services in innovative ways which also adhered to the national restrictions in place. This included partner notification, testing and treatment without having to attend a clinic in-person. In addition, Accelerated Partner Therapy (APT) for remote chlamydia treatment for people with a positive result and their partners was implemented. ![]() This required an extension to the existing platform to be built, a telephone triage and consultation model to be developed, along with ensuring that the laboratory services were also prepared for an increased demand in online testing activity. Only asymptomatic online testing was already available for residents of Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire – with the City of Milton Keynes getting the online service from 1 April 2020.įollowing the announcement of a national lockdown, iCaSH worked quickly to develop the online testing platform to include the provision of symptomatic online testing. Like all areas, prior to the pandemic contraception and sexual health services were predominantly focused on the provision of face-to-face appointments. It is delivered via two contracts – one for the City of Milton Keynes and one jointly commissioned across Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire. The three councils have one director of public health and a shared public health team with contraception and sexual health services commissioned from iCaSH, part of Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust. Changing our approach virtually overnight
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |