The Sexual and Reproductive Health report for last year has shown that the Orchard Centre at Princess Elizabeth Hospital provides a high-quality service, with plenty of positive feedback received.
However, 2025 was a particularly busy and challenging year. The number of people living with HIV in Guernsey, and accessing care through the Orchard Centre, increased from 63 in 2024 to 72 in 2025.
Meanwhile, its long-serving lead nurse, Stella Vile retired in spring after more than 35 years, and director of Public Health, Nicola Brink – who had been closely involved throughout the Orchard Centre’s development as lead HIV clinician – has also finished working in the field, moving more into the public health sphere.
‘We knew that we needed a restructure with these real significant colleagues leaving,’ said Laura Brouard, the Orchard Centre’s service lead.
‘The service is so important. It’s such a stigmatising, personal part of somebody’s health. We feel so privileged that people come forward and tell us everything about something so private. So to hear that positive feedback makes us feel that we’re providing a really important, good service.
‘We’ve been working on a big plan to ensure a smooth transition, so people feel confident to keep coming back and seeing us.’
Dr Brink has largely been replaced by Dr Dayan Vijeratnam, a link consultant from the UK, who now has regular hours with the centre. Ms Brouard and fellow sexual health nurse Trish McDermott have both qualified as non-medical prescribers, meaning they can now write prescriptions without the need for a doctor, which will offer more scope for people choosing appointments.
‘As the main hub for people coming forward for sexual health and HIV, we wanted there to be no impact on our service users, to give continuity of care.’
The report reveals an ongoing struggle in finding a new sexual health outreach nurse. Despite advertising for the role several times, it said there is a limited availability of specialist expertise in sexual health, contraception and outreach in the island.
Figures for the local rise in HIV cases include new diagnoses, as well as people moving to the Bailiwick who are already diagnosed with HIV. The report states that this increase is ‘currently manageable following the restructuring of the centre, but patients are attending with more complex clinical presentations, requiring increased need for consultant involvement’.
Fewer than five HIV cases over the past five years have been diagnosed late. The report shows that opt-out HIV testing in the emergency department of the PEH had been considered, but proved too costly. Testing has now pivoted to encourage better testing in primary care.
Further developments at the Orchard Centre include the introduction of the Meningitis B – MenB – vaccine, which protects against gonorrhoea, as well as plans to set up an online booking service.
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