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. 2021 Dec;45(6):622-627.
doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.13158. Epub 2021 Sep 2.

Sexual health service adaptations to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Australia: a nationwide online survey

Tiffany R Phillips  1   2 , Christopher K Fairley  1   2 , Basil Donovan  3   4 , Jason J Ong  1   2 , Anna McNulty  4 , Lewis Marshall  5 , David J Templeton  3   6 , Louise Owen  7 , Alison Ward  8 , Manoji Gunathilake  9 , Darren Russell  10 , Julian Langton-Lockton  11 , Christopher Bourne  3   4   12 , Sarah Martin  13 , Eric P F Chow  1   2   14
Affiliations

Sexual health service adaptations to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Australia: a nationwide online survey

Tiffany R Phillips et al. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: public health; service delivery.

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References

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