Inform Sexual Health

Cumbria Sexual Health Service (CSHS) is announcing plans to offer its patients the ability to book appointments and order STI self-testing kits online. Expected to become available to patients in the New Year, the plans form part of an initiative designed to improve access and reduce pressure on clinic staff. During the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, CSHS implemented a number of operational changes in order to respond to clinic closures, staff re-deployment and the need to mitigate risk of Cov ...

Conflicting reports have circulated in the media about the state of the UK’s sexual health in recent weeks. While some stories focus on the threat the current situation poses to sexual health services and therefore health outcomes, with the Independent reporting that sexual health services could be ‘rolled back decades after STI treatment delays and cancelled cervical screenings’, others have struck a more optimistic note. Highlighting the ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ for sexual health the ...

In a remarkable demonstration of innovation and efficiency, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has designed, set-up and tested a fully-electronic system for testing frontline NHS workers for COVID-19. The reconfiguration of the Inform Sexual Health system took just one day to complete and is now playing a pivotal role in the Trust’s management and containment of the virus, while supporting the wider community in achieving an overall strategic response to meet the national requiremen ...

Apparently, Stephen Hawking once said that “intelligence is the ability to adapt to change”. It’s something we’ve been reflecting on a lot lately, as we close the door on one year and look ahead to the next. Recent years have brought with them significant change for providers of sexual health services. The local authority public health budget was cut by £700 million in real terms between 2014/15 and 2019/20, representing a 25% cut to sexual health services’ budgets. Meanwhile, rates of syphi ...