Monday 03 April 2023
A free half day conference was held on Saturday for local health professionals.
The conference was organised in partnership by Public Health Services (the Orchard Centre) and the community contraceptive and sexual health provider, Choices, and provided updates on:
- HIV
- Local trends in sexually transmitted infections
- The Sexual Offences Law, 2020
- The new Sexual Assault Referral Centre
- Contraception
Speakers included:
- Dr Dayan Vijeratnam HIV/GUM consultant (UK)
- Dr Nicola Brink, Director of Public Health
- Marc Davies, Senior Prosecuting Lawyer, Law Officer of the Crown
- Charlie Cox, Project Manager, Sexual Assault Referral Centre
- Dr Lucy Joslin GP Clinical Lead - Choices
Fiona Hardy, the Manager of Choices and co-organiser of the conference said:
'This half day conference was an excellent opportunity to provide updates on developments in our areas of work.
As health professionals, continuous professional development is essential to ensure practitioners provide up-to-date treatment and advice, so I am delighted that 85 people registered to share their experiences and knowledge. Partnership working across the island forms an important part of the services we offer to islanders.'
The importance of teamworking in providing sexual health services was highlighted. Laura Brouard, Orchard Centre Service Manager, said:
'Sexual health services are delivered in the Bailiwick using a multi-agency and multidisciplinary approach. This teamworking, focusing on providing high quality services forms part of our offer and is integral to the principles of the Partnership of Purpose.'
Data on local trends in sexually transmitted infections was presented at the conference, with comparisons from England. Rates of Syphilis, Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea were shown to be low compared to England, with some fluctuation year-to-year due to the relatively small numbers of infections detected locally. For Chlamydia a decrease was noted in the number of infections diagnosed in 2020/21. This was possibly due to fewer people accessing services in the height of the pandemic.
Delegates also received an update on the contraception service which is free for islanders aged 21 or under.
The number of people living with HIV in the Bailiwick has increased and there are currently 53 people living with HIV under the care of the Orchard Centre as of March 2023. The conference focussed on the importance of early diagnosis and effective management of an HIV infection as this has revolutionised HIV care meaning that —diagnosed early and managed well— people living with HIV can enjoy healthy lives. It is therefore important for all health and care workers working across Primary and Secondary Care to be aware of the indications for testing and offer testing in accordance with guidelines from the British HIV Association, the British Association for Sexual Health and the HIV/British Infection Association Adult HIV Testing Guidelines (2020).
Dr Nicola Brink, Director of Public Health, said:
'The challenge we face is to provide safe, effective, and equitable services in a geographically remote location to support people living with HIV in the Bailiwick to live a happy and healthy life in our community.
Monitoring local trends in all sexually transmitted infections, and responding to changing needs, enables us to flex our services accordingly. However, it is important to acknowledge that whilst testing for sexually transmitted infections is important, we also need to focus on the other pillars of good sexual health, for example, promoting healthy and resilient relationships, and the prevention of sexual violence.
As such, I was very pleased that delegates were able to hear about plans for the Sexual Health Referral Centre (SARC) and an update on the new Sexual Health Offences Law.'
