TY  - JOUR
AU  - Phillips, TR
AU  - Fairley, CK
AU  - Donovan, B
AU  - Ong, JJ
AU  - McNulty, A
AU  - Marshall, L
AU  - Templeton, DJ
AU  - Owen, L
AU  - Ward, A
AU  - Gunathilake, M
AU  - Russell, D
AU  - Langton-Lockton, J
AU  - Bourne, C
AU  - Martin, S
AU  - Chow, EPF
Y2  - 2021/10/25
Y1  - 2021/09/02
SN  - 1326-0200
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/11343/289630
AB  - 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.
LA  - English
PB  - WILEY
T1  - Sexual health service adaptations to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Australia: a nationwide online survey
DO  - 10.1111/1753-6405.13158
IS  - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
VL  - 45
IS  - 6
SP  - 622-627
L1  - /bitstream/handle/11343/289630/onlinelibrary.wiley.com-doi-pdfdirect-10.1111-1753-6405.13158.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
ER  -