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This page is our opportunity to share local news, and also link our campaigns with the national campaign calendar.

Sexual Health Week #SHW23 11th-17th September 2023

We believe that no one should have to worry about their sexual and reproductive health. Support and treatment, without stigma or judgement, should be available to everyone. This is important to the health and wellbeing of individuals as well as society as a whole.

We have various Hubs across the country and our services are open to everyone regardless of your age, gender, nationality, background. Everyone is welcome.

Book an appointment online, speak to a clinician the phone or visit your closest clinic and speak to one of our skilled, friendly team.

Visit https://www.thesexualhealthhub.co.uk/ for more advice and support.

Important information about HIV services in Oldham, Bury and Rochdale

Important information about MFT now running the Bury, Rochdale and Oldham HIV services

As of 3rd January 2023, the HIV service in Bury, Rochdale and Oldham will transfer  from HCRG Care Group to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. The HIV services will be run from the same locations as they are now.

Patients do not have to take any action – your care will automatically transfer along with your medical notes and you can be assured of stringent attention to keep your personal information safe.

This change only affects the HIV service.

The HCRG Care Group will continue to provide sexual health services in the same locations in Bury, Rochdale and Oldham.

Who is providing my care?

The team providing HIV services from 3rd January is the expert HIV team within the Department of Infectious Diseases at North Manchester General Hospital. This includes specialist nurses, consultants, psychologists, pharmacists, support workers and administrators. The Department also holds the status of being the Regional Infectious Diseases Unit.

How will the service run?

The team from North Manchester General Hospital will attend the same clinic locations. However, the clinic in Bury will change from Mondays to Tuesdays and if you are affected by this change we will contact you directly.

Specialist nurses will do many of the consultations with support from consultants. People attending the Oldham clinic will already have met some team members, since MFT has been providing the HIV service at Oldham on an interim basis since Dr Ahmed’s retirement in March 2022.

Medication will be provided in the same way: home delivery for the majority of people, with the option to pick up any urgent medication from Lloyds pharmacy at North Manchester.

Blood tests will be taken in the same way.

We are pleased as part of this change that MFT will be expanding the service.

The service will now be able to offer a specialist HIV psychology service. This means we will be able to refer people attending Bury, Rochdale and Oldham for psychology and the service will be provided at the same locations, or online.

Some elements of the newly expanded HIV service will be available at North Manchester General Hospital or by phone, for example, offering a brief review after change a in medication, or the memory clinic.

How we manage your medical information

Each person accessing the HIV service will be registered as a patient at MFT and their medical information transferred to MFT clinical systems. Medical information is always confidential, but there are small differences between how a sexual health service and a hospital HIV service manage information:

  • Rather than being kept on a separate system, medical information will be kept on the main hospital systems, accessible to healthcare professionals providing care, just as we do for the HIV service at North Manchester General Hospital.

 

  • We will not use anonymised ‘patient numbers’ like a sexual health service, but standard hospital identifiers for confidential medical records: name, date of birth, NHS number, as we do for the HIV service at North Manchester.
  • We encourage all people living with HIV to share their diagnosis with their GP. We aim to keep GPs informed of medication and blood tests, in order that we, and they, can provide safe care (for example some HIV medications have important interactions with other medication, so it is essential that GPs know what medication people take). However, if people do not wish us to communicate with GPs, we can accommodate this.

Who to contact if you need a prescription or have a question for the team

The administration support team is based at North Manchester with the nursing and medical team. Please get in touch by phone if you need anything:

Administration: 0161 720 2638

MFT is delighted to be providing an expanded service for you in Bury, Rochdale and Oldham. However, if you are unhappy that the provider is changing, you do have the right to request that your care is transferred.

If you want to talk to us about changing your provider, please mention it in your appointment or call the Department via the administration number above.

Monkeypox walk-in clinic on Saturday 20th August 2022

A Monkeypox vaccination clinic is running as a walk-in TOMMOROW, Sat 20th August from 9am at MFT Vaccination Clinic, 193 Hathersage Road, Manchester, M13 0JE – for people who are eligible for the vaccine and used sexual health clinics across Greater Manchester. This includes residents of Oldham, Bury and Rochdale.

Monkeypox vaccine will be for GBMSM at highest risk (multiple partners, participate group sex, attend sex on premises, recent bacterial STI and those eligible for PREP), people who’ve had recent close contact & healthcare workers caring/due to care for someone with  Monkeypox.

We would encourage people to come prepared for the weather, sun or rain with hats, umbrellas & water. Stay alert for symptoms & call NHS 111 or a local sexual health clinic if you have signs of Monkeypox, even if it’s just one spot.

Vaccination push to protect against monkeypox | Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership (gmintegratedcare.org.uk)

Postal testing during the planned strike action and over the bank holiday period

Ordering Postal kits online

Due to the planned strike action in August 2022 there may be delays in your kit being delivered.  Please bear with us during this time.

Returning your Postal Test 

Due to the planned strike action and the bank holiday on the 28th August 2022 , please try to avoid posting your completed kit between Wednesday 24th Aug 2022 and Wednesday 31st August 2022. Some of the tests in the postal kits can only be tested up to 5 days following collection, so your test may need be discarded if you return your kit during this time.

Our services will be closed for the bank holiday on Monday 28th August 2022. If you need to access emergency contraception, please contact your local pharmacy or GP out of hours service. If you need urgent help please visit nhs 111.

 

Improving access to Sexual health facilities across Oldham, Bury and Rochdale

More community sexual health facilities are to be provided for people in Oldham, Bury and Rochdale.

As part of a new outreach model being delivered by HCRG Care Group – the team will offer more outreach services from our existing sites.

We are working closely with our partners to provide greater access to sexual health support for vulnerable people and young people who are hard to reach within the community.

Sarah Lunt, Head of Sexual Health & Dermatology, at HCRG Care Group, said: “This is brilliant news for people in Oldham, Bury and Rochdale. At HCRG Care Group, we are proud to change people’s lives by transforming health and care and this expansion of services will allow us to reach more patients in the heart of their community.”

This work is part of an ongoing transformation programme being delivered by HCRG Care Group alongside our partners, which has been recommissioned by the three local authorities to deliver sexual health services until April 2027.

Sexual health outreach services include “Clinic in a Box”, which was launched during lockdown and will continue to give people access to contraception and sexual health information at convenient locations throughout Greater Manchester.

The expansion of services follows the announcement in December 2021 that sexual health services in Bury, Oldham and Rochdale had been rated as ‘Outstanding’ when it comes to caring for patients and ‘Good’ in safety, effectiveness, responsiveness and being well-led by the Care Quality Commission.

Sexual health services are run by HCRG Care Group on behalf of the local authorities in each area.

The service runs the Sexual Health Hub thesexualhealthub.co.uk where local people can order testing kits for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis. Also available online are condoms, emergency hormonal contraceptive pill and pregnancy tests.

 

Cheshire Pride

We are long-term supporters and sponsors of Chester Pride – one of the UK’s largest free to attend LGBT+ Pride events.

In August, we also supported Chester Pride Digital and took part in Pride TV, a livestream Q&A hosted by Lady Wanda Why.

The Q&A featured Justine Purnell, Specialist Practitioner and Dr Hardeep Kang, who both work in the Integrated Sexual Health Service covering Chester West and Chester. They answered questions from the public and shared their expertise on several topics from testing for sexual transmitted diseases to sex and sexual health.

Our Sexual Health team also used the event to promote The Box Project, which is a charitable project we run in partnership with Chester Pride. The boxes have free condoms, sanitary products and help and advice on a wide range of issues. Launched last year, the boxes can be found at bars, pubs, clubs, and other public areas in the city. They encourage people to take the relevant pack for moments when caught short, in immediate need or due to lack of funds.

For more information, please contact 0300 247 0020

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