Madeleine Moon MP - Working hard for Bridgend
Sexual Health
Over the last few years the number of young people affected by sexually transmitted infections has increased dramatically with 23 percent more young people affected than in 2002. The most frightening thing about these infections is that some have no symptoms at all yet the consequences can be devastating. Some are painful and incurable and all are surrounded with ignorance and stigma. Bridgend is affected as much as anywhere and as a result our Sexual Health Services are one of the most vital front line medical provisions in our community. They provide treatment for people affected by STIs and as prevention is always better than cure they also place a strong emphasis on education.
There are numerous services available to young people in Bridgend who find themselves affected by sexual health issues and it is vitally important that people know what is out there and where to go to get help. Three years ago, Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust began to modernise and integrate the sexual health services it offers, it now provides a range of local services.
Contraception and Sexual Health Services are run throughout the Bridgend constituency covering Porthcawl, Ogmore Vale, Pontycymmer, Quarella Road and North Cornelly. On top of this, the NHS Trust also provides youth advisory sessions in Maesteg, Pencoed and Quarella Road. All of these clinics are open access, walk in clinics, meaning that specialists are able to give advice whenever it is required. Everyone who attends is seen which offers real peace of mind to people worried about STIs.
In 2005 the Welsh Assembly gave the Trust funding to set up its own sexually transmitted infection screening clinic called Well Sexual Health (WellSH). This extremely popular clinic based at Quarella Road, screens for all the common Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s) and can offer contraceptive advice. For information about booking appointments, call 0797 396 0055.
As well as traditional sexual health services, such as GUM clinics and pregnancy advice, the Trust also offers psychosexual counselling, emergency hormonal contraception advice, preconception advice, fertility services, advice on premenstrual syndrome and menopause, urology services and parental advice.
On the education front a ‘School Health Service and Youth Advice Service’ is available and provides health and advice for children in primary and secondary schools, dealing with issues such as self-esteem and emotional and physical health. One extremely innovative educational initiative is the ‘Info – Bus’, which is provided in partnership with Cymorth/ BLF and Bridgend County Borough Council youth workers. The ‘info – bus’ takes the services provided out into communities that would otherwise not have easy access to sexual health services.
The Trust also has a short term partnership with the Youth Offending Team. This programme provides nurses with access to hard to reach young people who have otherwise been lost to mainstream education and sexual health promotion.
While the Trust has been successful with the services that it offers, it does encounter problems along the way. There are real problems with staffing levels and finding Doctors and Nurses is a real issue. This goes hand in hand with funding problems, with successful services facing potential cuts due to a lack of long term financial support. I hope that these problems can be addressed, so that our vitally important Sexual Health Services can continue to build on what they have achieved and continue to address this problem that has the potential to affect us all.