Sexual health treatment 'in days'
BBC 17 July 2007
Under-24
year olds should be tested for chlamydia
Anyone with serious sexual health problems should be referred for treatment within 48 hours, under a series of new health standards.
The draft guidelines also include recommendations that women should be offered abortions quickly. They have been created by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, for use in specialist clinics.
The 12 proposed standards, with health authorities targets, will now undergo a consultation process.
The new standards mostly set out deadlines for action and minimum thresholds to be met by health boards and others.
They state that anyone with serious symptoms or needing urgent care should be seen within two days of initial contact.
These priority patients include those with an acute sexually-transmitted infection, women seeking emergency contraception or termination of pregnancy, victims of assault, and those under 16 years old.
Most women seeking to have a pregnancy terminated should have the procedure before reaching 10 weeks of gestation.
The standards also state that 10% of women of reproductive age - rising to 15% by the end of 2010 - should be prescribed intrauterine and implantable contraceptives, said to be more effective than other methods of contraception.
Sexually active under-24 year olds should be tested for chlamydia, according to the new standards.
The NHS Quality Improvement Scotland document warns that the sexually-transmitted disease is "highly prevalent", with nearly 18,000 cases diagnosed in 2006, mostly in people under 25.
Poor record
While sexual health services in Scotland have been cost-effective in treating large numbers of patients at low cost, the services have often been poorly developed, and suffered under-investment and lack of leadership, according to the document.
It states that Scotland has poor sexual health with a rising incidence of sexually-transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, and some of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe. It also notes that sexual health is generally worse in areas where people are poorer.
Dr Rak Nandwani, the clinical advisor for the Sexual Health Standards, said historically there had been a "stigma" over sexual health issues. "We are trying to draw on the best examples of practice that are already happening in Scotland and to ensure they are available to everyone," he said.
See also
Authors back new HIV charity 16-07-07Edinburgh & Lothian News
Sexual Health reports 21-11-06
Abortions rates still rising 15-09-06
UK abortion - a view
Sexual knowledge
All you wanted to know about sexually transmitted infections and diseases