You Said We Did: Sexual Health Services Survey

We Asked

We wanted to understand the sexual health needs of our residents. Some people may not be able to access the sexual health services they need. Filling in this survey will help us to decide how to improve services and will help to shape what services look like in the future to make sure they meet the needs of our residents.

Sexual health includes reproductive health, such as contraception and emergency contraception, as well as wider sexual wellbeing such as having a healthy body, satisfying sexual life and peace of mind with regards to sexual relationship(s).

We asked residents about how they access information about sexual health, their experience of using sexual health services and treatments, and any barriers in accessing services.

85% of respondents said they could access all the information that they need about their sexual health
When asked how they access information on customer services, the top 3 methods were: online sites, followed by GPs and a sexual health clinic
18% reported difficulties in accessing their preferred method of contraception. The barriers were reported to be finding the time to get an appointment.
Most (77%) said that if they needed to access sexual health services, they would know where to go

The overarching themes emerging from barriers to accessing services and suggestions for improvement are as follows:

Access – this was highlighted as a key issue due to geographic access barriers (e.g. transport resulting from a lack of neighbourhood provision; also availability of appointments in terms of where and how they can be accessed and wait times.
Some people wanted improved access to appointments and others wanted more opportunity to access walk in services. There needs to be a balance of walk in and appointments available at a variety of times (evenings and weekends)
Improvements needed in education around sexual health, particularly upskilling of wider workforce
The importance of talking to and considering ethnic minority groups in service design and access.
There needs to be an increased knowledge and awareness of sexual and reproductive services and how to access their services;

The responses were collated and used to inform recommissioning of future services. The changes were as follows:
The new provider of sexual health services in Tameside has been asked to:

Provide more local spoke clinics so that people don’t have to travel into Ashton to access routine and standard services.
Ensure there is a choice of times and types of services such as daytime/evening, walk-in/appointment.
Take more of a leadership role in supporting and training the wider workforce around sexual and reproductive health.
Working with members of the public and other stakeholders, develop a detailed delivery plan to set how the milestones and priorities will be delivered
Ensure the public are aware of the services available and how to access them
Prioritise the provision of Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) across the locality, including working closely with GP practices.

The newly commissioned service is due to commence in April 2022.