In response to the pandemic, 'live chat' has allowed the Sexual Health team to ensure that young people could still access their services and receive the necessary support.
The Highland Sexual Health Teen Service comprises a small dedicated team who provide care, advice and support to young people across the Highland Council area within NHS Highland.
In response to the pandemic, when many health services could not be provided face to face, the Sexual Health team were keen to ensure that young people could still access the service and receive the necessary support.
The concept of a live chat was introduced as an innovative way of reaching out to young people and at the same time it also had the added benefit of improving access to sexual health services for the many young people who live in the remote and rural areas across NHS Highland.
Kimberley MacInnes, Service Manager for Highland Sexual Health Services, said: “When the pandemic hit and we went into lockdown we had to suspend the walk in sexual health services that we provided for young people across the Highland Council area.
“We were really keen however to ensure that young people could still access our services and we tried a number of different alternative formats such as telephone appointments or video consultation. These did not prove to be as popular due to concerns around privacy, with families all at home during lockdown and fears of the people using our service being overheard or interrupted.
“What was needed was a discreet route of access to the service so the team built on the concept of an online ‘live chat’ service where young people could ‘chat’ with one of our specialist nurses and receive advice, support, have a face to face appointment arranged or be signposted to other services if required.
“Access to the service is simple and straightforward; it’s available to those aged under 25 via our website www.highlandsexualhealth.co.uk where the Live Chat tab opens up at 4pm each weekday, directing users to a secure site where they have the same privacy, security and confidentiality that they would get with a face to face appointment.
“Feedback from the people using the service has been really encouraging and the average rating (out of 5) has been 4.8. They also told us that they have found the service to be both accessible and informative.
“We have also been delighted to find out that the number of young people using sexual health services has actually increased by 300% since the introduction of the ‘chat’ service. This is really good news and shows that the ‘live chat’ has been a fabulous addition to the range of services that are available for young people.”
The live chat service is available Monday to Friday from 4pm to 6pm.
Read more about sexual health clinics.