Drop-in sexual health clinic is trying a different approach
A NEW drop-in service that began this week is using a new approach when giving advice to young people about sex and relationships.
Run by the Orchard Centre sexual health clinic for the benefit of those under the age of 25, the outreach service will operate every Tuesday between 3.30 and 4.30pm at the Kindred Centre on Les Genats Estate.
No appointment is required and a range of services are offered, such as tests for sexually transmitted infections, free condoms and general advice about sex, relationships and contraception.
Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink said the new approach at the clinic was inspired by the World Health Organisation’s definition of sexual health.
‘The WHO talks about sexual health as a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality. It is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. We want to build on that by providing a service that is outside of a traditional healthcare setting,’ she said.
Dr Brink added that the service had been co-designed with users of the Orchard Centre and local sexual health clinic Choices.
‘It will be a place that builds on the successes we’ve had through the Orchard Centre, where people can come to have an informal chat in comfortable surroundings about anything that might be worrying them, as well as having access to testing services.
‘We want to be flexible with it and explore the ways in which we can make it a real point of access for young people.’
Sexual health outreach nurse Ruby Harrild-Dunbar, who works at the Kindred Centre, said she had met and spoken to a lot of young people since assuming her role in January.
‘I’ve visited schools to give talks and inform students of what we offer. Everyone is impressed with the services that we provide,’ she said.
More than 1,280 people were seen by the Orchard Centre last year. Dr Brink said that its services were extremely popular with young people.
‘Anyone under the age of 21 is eligible for free contraception, which has been very effective as Guernsey has a teenage pregnancy rate that has fallen considerably and is now extremely low,’ she said.
The centre hopes to boost awareness of its services through social media accounts and word-of-mouth recommendations.
Dr Brink also said that data for trends about the number of people with sexually-transmitted infections on the island would be available in April and that a comparison with England would then be possible.
‘I’d rather not speculate what the figures are likely to be until they are published,’ she said.
‘In the meantime, I would remind people that support and treatments are available for the management and prevention of STIs, and would encourage anyone who is worried about any aspect of their sexual health to get in touch with us.’
Further details about the services provided by the Orchard Centre can be found at https://www.gov.gg/sexualhealth.
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