BASHH welcomes launch of new sexual health inquiry from Parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee

The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) has welcomed the news that the Health and Social Care Committee will be carrying out a new inquiry on sexual health in the coming months.

The inquiry represents an important opportunity to highlight the pressures facing sexual health services and the impact that these are having on patients and public health more broadly. It also presents a high-profile platform for the Committee to identify ways of alleviating these pressures and advocate to Government and policymakers about the need to support the long-term viability of sexual health in this country.

The announcement of the inquiry follows several months of engagement that has taken place between BASHH and members of the Committee.

Submissions to the inquiry are due by Monday 1st October and further details on the inquiry’s scope and its terms of reference are available online here. The focus of the inquiry is limited to sexual health in England.

To help inform BASHH’s response to the inquiry, we will shortly be circulating a survey to members to better identify how services are being affected by pressures, and the impact that these are having on the quality of care and level of access that members of the public receive as a result. We are keen for BASHH members from all regions to respond to this survey – whilst the scope of the Committee’s inquiry is limited to England, information gathered from the survey can support engagement with policymakers in other parts of the United Kingdom as well.

We expect to circulate this survey shortly and details on how to respond to will be made available as soon as possible.

We will also share suggested response themes that may be useful to draw on for any members who are keen to submit individual inquiry submissions.