Rochdale trials scheme to improve chlamydia screening in young people

The pilot aims to reduce waiting times in clinics, make access to screening easier and increase the provision for screening

Pharmacies across the borough of Rochdale are piloting a scheme to encourage young people to take advantage of postal chlamydia tests.

The chlamydia screening pilot launched last month and includes all pharmacies across the borough as part of Rochdale Borough Council’s plan to improve the uptake of Chlamydia screening in 15-24-year-olds.

The pilot aims to reduce waiting times in GUM clinics, make access to screening as easy as possible and increase the provision for chlamydia screening.

In 2016, the borough of Rochdale had 1,586 positive chlamydia screens per 100,000 in the 15–24 age group. This is both lower than the national average of 1,882 per 100,000 and a decline on the previous year’s figures of 2,110 per 100,000 of 15-24-year-olds in the borough.

Andrea Fallon, Rochdale Borough Council’s director of public health and wellbeing, said: “Sexual health is often a difficult topic to talk about, particularly for younger people.

“However, ignoring problems can cause serious health issues including pelvic inflammatory disease or infertility. Raising awareness is key to preventing these diseases as it means that we can often then treat them at an early stage.

“Our advice is to always practise safe sex but if that doesn’t happen it’s important to remember that confidential testing and support services for sexual health are available in our borough, free of charge for anyone who needs them.”

The scheme has been rolled out across pharmacies as they can access women who have had unprotected sexual intercourse (via their emergency contraception services) and are also a key setting for residents who tend not to access health care elsewhere.

All pharmacies have been provided with credit-card sized prompt cards which can be discreetly passed to customers over the counter or placed in a bag with a purchase.

The card directs customers to the R U Clear website/phone number where they can order their own postal testing kits, which come with full instructions. R U Clear offers confidential tests from the NHS, for the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis.

Each card has space for the pharmacies to include their unique codes, which customers will input when ordering their kit so performance can be measured for each pharmacy.

If the pilot proves successful, it will be commissioned full time from 1 April 2018.