Case studies

Women across Liverpool have easier access to a range of services, including contraception, thanks to a network of clinics, hubs and pharmacies. It has ensured that no woman in the city is more than a 15-minute walk from a contraception service.

Commissioners from Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent and Telford and Wrekin councils worked together to jointly tender for sexual health and HIV services. The move has had a variety of advantages, allowing the three areas to benefit from economies of scale and better partnership working with each other and the provider for the benefit of the patients.

Doncaster’s sexual health provider Solutions4Health has enjoyed great success in engaging sex workers after creating an outreach sexual health nurse post last year.

Portsmouth’s sexual health workforce has been upskilling frontline staff from other services to have healthy conversations about sexual health and in particular pregnancy planning. Staff including midwives, health visitors and social care workers have all received tailored training.

In East Riding a mobile sexual health clinic has been established, allowing staff to take services direct to where people are. It forms part of a multi-pronged approach to reach out to local people, especially the young.

Councils across the South West have pooled budgets to carry out research into why certain groups are not coming forward for the HIV-preventative treatment PrEP. The findings of the exercise are now being used to run a social marketing campaign which will be tailored towards those groups and individuals who are least likely to come forward to access PrEP. PrEP is a pill which prevents infection with HIV by stopping the virus from replicating.

An interview with Dr Arif Rajpura, Director of Public Health, Blackpool council.

An interview with Professor Ivan Browne, Director of Public Health, Leicester City Council.

An interview with Director of Public Health (Greater Lincolnshire) Professor Derek Ward

An interview with Jason Strelitz, Corporate Director for Adults and Health, London Borough of Newham.