BASHH COVID-19 SURVEY FINDS OVER HALF OF SERVICES HAVE BEEN CLOSED

The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) are running an ongoing survey during the coronavirus pandemic to understand how sexual health services are being impacted and where pressures are emerging.

The most recent set of results found that service capacity has been significantly reduced with 54% of sites closing in recent weeks, and the majority of respondents (53%) stating they had less than 20% capacity for face-to-face services. Staffing levels have also dramatically shifted to cope with COIVD-19 provision, with a drop in available staffing of around half compared to the baseline figures. At the time of responding, members said that 38% of staff had been redeployed and 17% were shielding, isolating or are ill.

The survey results show that vulnerable populations are particularly at risk during this time, with almost 1 of 5 respondents saying they were only able to offer limited, or no care at all, to this group. Other challenging areas appear to be delivery of routine vaccinations (54% unable to provide) and provision of LARC as preferred contraception (54% unable to provide). 9% said they were unable to maintain PrEP provision.

A new round of the survey will be circulated in the near future to help identify any changing trends and to provide latest insights which will be shared with national health leaders. Huge thanks to all members for their invaluable contributions so far.

To see the full results from the first round of the survey click here.