Text size

Theme

Language

"Was not offered advice or guidance"

About: Fife Community Services / Sexual Health

(as a relative),

A vulnerable family member disclosed to me, following an admission to hospital for pelvic inflammatory disease, sexual activity that concerned me as a previous practitioner in this area.

She attended the clinic at Whytemans Brae. In terms of numbers of partners and risk factors, her risk category was to me, akin to (unpaid) sex work which she advised she had disclosed to the practitioner on duty and questioned if there was any service support for people experiencing this issue. I'm not sure if she worded it as having been exploitative but in my mind/previous experience in the area the history should have raised concerns.

She was experiencing excruciating pain from sores and thrush discharge, which was swabbed by the nurse as she is registered disabled and was concerned about not completing the self-swab correctly. She was advised that screening was near enough pointless due to recent IV antibiotics (which would render Chlamydia and gonnorhoea tests null) and was not offered advice or guidance on BBV or other STI's, instead only advised to attend her GP for thrush treatment.

She arrived back after that appointment upset and feeling she had disclosed sensitive info to someone who had dismissed her concerns and not listened to her. 

When she attended her GP a few days later she was swabbed, diagnosed and treated for thrush and active HSV-2. She was also listened to, and referred to a counselling and support service to address her concerns about exploitative sexual behaviour.

Whilst eventually her need will be met by NHS Fife I feel the step she bravely took to self attend to the sexual health clinic resulted in less than might be expected from a specialist service.


More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Kirsty Durham, Senior Charge Nurse, Sexual Health, Fife Health & Social Care Partnership 8 months ago
Kirsty Durham
Senior Charge Nurse, Sexual Health,
Fife Health & Social Care Partnership
Submitted on 24/09/2024 at 12:57
Published on Care Opinion at 12:57


picture of Kirsty Durham

Dear AmamamaG, thank you for taking the time to tell us about your family member's visit to the Sexual Health clinic at Whyteman's Brae Hospital. I am sorry to hear that she did not experience the level of care and support that we would expect and has felt let down by our service. We do understand how challenging it can be for people to attend a Sexual Health clinic and to share very personal and sensitive information, and also how upsetting and debilitating it can be to experience painful symptoms. It saddens me to hear that your family member feels that she was not listened to or offered appropriate advice or guidance on this occasion.

I am keen to know more about the specific aspects of your family member's experience in order that we can understand what went wrong and learn from it and I would invite her to contact me on 01592 729275.

I am pleased to hear that she has since received treatment and referral for further support and I hope that she is now symptom free. I look forward to hearing from her soon.

Kirsty Durham, Sexual Health Senior Charge Nurse

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k