Open AccessSexual health service adaptations to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic in Australia: a nationwide online survey
Author(s) -
Phillips Tiffany R.,
Fairley Christopher K.,
Donovan Basil,
Ong Jason J.,
McNulty Anna,
Marshall Lewis,
Templeton David J.,
Owen Louise,
Ward Alison,
Gunathilake Manoji,
Russell Darren,
LangtonLockton Julian,
Bourne Christopher,
Martin Sarah,
Chow Eric P.F.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/1753-6405.13158
Subject(s) - medicine , public health , family medicine , staffing , pandemic , telehealth , service delivery framework , phone , transmission (telecommunications) , telemedicine , service (business) , health care , medical emergency , covid-19 , disease , nursing , infectious disease (medical specialty) , linguistics , philosophy , pathology , economy , engineering , economic growth , electrical engineering , economics
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.