TY - JOUR
T1 - Sexual health service adaptations to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Australia
T2 - a nationwide online survey
AU - Phillips, Tiffany R.
AU - Fairley, Christopher K.
AU - Donovan, Basil
AU - Ong, Jason J.
AU - McNulty, Anna
AU - Marshall, Lewis
AU - Templeton, David J.
AU - Owen, Louise
AU - Ward, Alison
AU - Gunathilake, Manoji
AU - Russell, Darren
AU - Langton-Lockton, Julian
AU - Bourne, Christopher
AU - Martin, Sarah
AU - Chow, Eric P.F.
N1 - Funding Information:
E.P.F.C is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant (GNT1172873). C.K.F is supported by an Australian NHMRC Leadership Investigator Grants (GNT1172900). JJO is supported by an Australian NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (GNT1104781).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Objective: Examine the changes in service delivery Australian public sexual health clinics made to remain open during lockdown. Methods: A cross-sectional survey designed and delivered on Qualtrics was emailed to 21 directors of public sexual health clinics across Australia from July-August 2020 and asked about a variety of changes to service delivery. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results: Twenty clinics participated, all remained open and reported service changes, including suspension of walk-in services in eight clinics. Some clinics stopped offering asymptomatic screening for varying patient populations. Most clinics transitioned to a mix of telehealth and face-to-face consultations. Nineteen clinics reported delays in testing and 13 reported limitations in testing. Most clinics changed to phone consultations for HIV medication refills (n=15) and eleven clinics prescribed longer repeat prescriptions. Fourteen clinics had staff redeployed to assist the COVID-19 response. Conclusion: Public sexual health clinics pivoted service delivery to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission in clinical settings, managed staffing reductions and delays in molecular testing, and maintained a focus on urgent and symptomatic STI presentations and those at higher risk of HIV/STI acquisition. Implications for public health: Further research is warranted to understand what impact reduced asymptomatic screening may have had on community STI transmission.
AB - Objective: Examine the changes in service delivery Australian public sexual health clinics made to remain open during lockdown. Methods: A cross-sectional survey designed and delivered on Qualtrics was emailed to 21 directors of public sexual health clinics across Australia from July-August 2020 and asked about a variety of changes to service delivery. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results: Twenty clinics participated, all remained open and reported service changes, including suspension of walk-in services in eight clinics. Some clinics stopped offering asymptomatic screening for varying patient populations. Most clinics transitioned to a mix of telehealth and face-to-face consultations. Nineteen clinics reported delays in testing and 13 reported limitations in testing. Most clinics changed to phone consultations for HIV medication refills (n=15) and eleven clinics prescribed longer repeat prescriptions. Fourteen clinics had staff redeployed to assist the COVID-19 response. Conclusion: Public sexual health clinics pivoted service delivery to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission in clinical settings, managed staffing reductions and delays in molecular testing, and maintained a focus on urgent and symptomatic STI presentations and those at higher risk of HIV/STI acquisition. Implications for public health: Further research is warranted to understand what impact reduced asymptomatic screening may have had on community STI transmission.
KW - public health
KW - service delivery
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114043180&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1753-6405.13158
DO - 10.1111/1753-6405.13158
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85114043180
SN - 1326-0200
VL - 45
SP - 622
EP - 627
JO - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
JF - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
IS - 6
ER -