The core activities of a GPwSI service in sexual health It is recommended that the National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV www.doh.gov.uk/nshs/bettersexualhealth.pdf and the subseque
Trang 1General Practitioners with Special Interests
in the Delivery of Clinical Services
Sexual Health
Trang 2Sexual health
This general practitioner with special interest (GPwSI) framework is one of a number which the Department of Health has commissioned the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to produce The frameworks have been written following extensive consultation with general practitioners, secondary care
specialists, Primary Care Trust managers, patients, the Department of Health and the PwSI team in the NHS Modernisation Agency The frameworks are intended
to be advisory for the development of local services, providing good practice and experience, offering recommendations to assist PCOs in determining how to
implement a local GPwSI service to meet their needs
This guidance should be read in conjunction with the Department of Health and
Royal College of General Practitioners’ Implementing a scheme for General
Practitioners with Special Interests (April 2002, www.doh.gov.uk/pricare/gp-specialinterests), and the NHS Modernisation Agency’s Practitioners with Special
Interests: A Step by Step Guide To Setting Up a General Practitioner with a Special Interest (GPwSI) Service (April 2003, www.gpwsi.org)
Rationale for GPwSI service in sexual health
The risk of unwanted pregnancy and the risk of sexually transmitted infections are often associated with each other Evidence showing associations between mental ill-health, drug and alcohol problems and sexual ill-health and high-risk sexual behaviour supports the need for a GPwSI to take a broader approach to sexual health
a The core activities of a GPwSI service in sexual health
It is recommended that the National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV
(www.doh.gov.uk/nshs/bettersexualhealth.pdf) and the subsequent Tool Kit for Primary Care Trusts
(www.doh.gov.uk/sexualhealthandhiv/pdfs/commissioning_toolkit.pdf) should underpin the development of a GPwSI service
The activities of a GPwSI service will depend on a number of factors, including the location of the service and its overall aims In principle ,the main activities of the service will be based around education and improving standards of sexual health medicine within the primary care organisation as well as offering sexual health services As best practice, it is recommended that GPwSI services include elements of the following:
Clinical Service
Offering Level 1 services with some additional Level 2 services (see table 1) These services can be offered either as part of an integrated general practice
service with care being provided alongside other general medical services or as a stand-alone service located within a dedicated sexual health clinic within the NHS
Trang 3or other provider and either targeted to a particular population or risk group (e.g young people, drug users, hard-to-reach groups) or provided to a general
population
At the time of writing much work has been done to ensure that GP practices are able to provide level 1 services Therefore an initial role of a GPwSI service may
be to support this further.
Further activities of the GPwSI service depend on the needs of the Primary Care Organisation (PCO) and can include provision of:
-• Enhanced Family Planning services
• Menopause care
• Infertility care
• Service to raise the awareness and respond to the needs of women who have undergone female genital mutilation
• Vasectomy services
• Psychosexual counselling
Education and Liaison
This usually involves dissemination of good practice across the PCO training and education, liaison with local specialist providers, and local laboratories
Service Development/Leadership
• Contribute to the strategic direction of local sexual health services in particular lead implementation of the National Strategy; participate in the monitoring of outcomes and support development of integrated services
• Provide sexual health clinical leadership for primary care in order to champion change
Trang 4The National Strategy for sexual health and HIV.ational for sexual health and
Level 1 Services
Sexual history and risk assessment
Sexual Transmitted Infections testing for women
HIV testing and counselling
Pregnancy testing and referral
Contraceptive information ad services
Assessment and referral of men with STI symptoms
Cervical cytology screening and referral
Hepatitis B immunisation
Level 2 Services
Intrauterine device insertion
Testing and treating sexually transmitted infections
Vasectomy
Contraceptive implant insertion
Partner notification
Invasive sexually transmitted testing for men (until non-invasive tests are available)
The RCGP is of the view that a Level 1 service should also include the ability to provide a confidential service and a service accessible to young people
New draft GMS contract
The new draft GMS contract includes a number of quality markers relevant to sexual health medicine The GPwSI would have an important role in helping
practices reach the quality targets as well as supporting PCOs in developing and monitoring Enhanced services
b The core competencies recommended for the GPwSI service
These will depend on the core activities of the service provided though a GPwSI should be able to demonstrate elements of those listed below
Generalist
The competencies to deliver a GPwSI service should be seen as a development of generalist skills including good communication skills, competence in teaching and training health care professionals and a commitment to cascading knowledge and skills
and
Special interest area
A GPwSI would be expected to be competent at providing all Level 1 services to a high level of expertise
Trang 5Competencies Clinical Education and
support
Leadership
Knowledge
of:
Local and national epidemiology, presentation, natural history, complications, investigation, treatment (including antibiotic resistance) of the common Sexual Transmitted Infections and vaginal infections
Harm reduction and harm minimisation in relation to illicit drug use, especially injecting drug use
Use and contraindications of the full range of
contraceptive techniques
Methods for TOP, their relative advantages and disadvantages indication and contraindications
Understanding of the different test for STIs including storage and transport of specimens
Understanding of practice based methods
of record keeping and how these may support audit
Indicators of sexual health risk
Local STI and Family Planning services and supports available
Good knowledge of local guidance in relation to treatment
of common STIs
Local management
of sexual contacts and partner notification
Epidemiology and prevalence of STIs and Teenage pregnancy, and other relevant local sexual health issues, e.g female genital mutilation, sickle cell disease
Legal framework of STIs in primary care including that relevant to young people and confidentiality
Knowledge of local educational
providers
National, local and Professional strategies and guidelines and how these may relate to service configuration within the PCO Good understanding
of roles, responsibility and structure of PCOs and how to influence them to bring about improvement in delivery of sexual health services Understanding of primary care structures and how these may affect delivery of services within the PCO
Understanding of service redesign and care pathways
Skills Able to carry out a full
sexual and contraceptive history including risk assessment
Able to keep up to date with national and local priorities, treatment changes and services
Able to work across clinical networks with specialist and other services
Trang 6Competencies Clinical Education and
support
Leadership
Able to carry out sexual health risk assessment and offer harm reduction advice
Able to perform male and female genital examination and recognise abnormal findings
Able to demonstrate condom use
Able to carry out cervical cytology
Able to report STIs according to minimum date set requirements
Able to liaise with educational
providers delivering training etc to primary care practitioners, e.g
deanery structures, PCO protected learning events
Attitudes Able to engage with
patient group in a manner that facilitates good history taking and treatment of sexual health problems
Able to work in a multidisciplinary team and use other members of the team
Other competencies will be determined by the activities provided, for example
• Able to perform colposcopy examination and treatment
• Able to perform vasectomy
• Able to provide psychosexual counselling services
• Able to test and treat sexually transmitted infections in men and women
• Able to fit and remove Intra Uterine Contraceptive Devices, including Intra Uterine Systems
• Able to fit and remove contraceptive implants
c Evidence of training and experience for required competencies
Generalist skills
PCOs will need to ensure that the GP is a competent and experienced generalist,
as well as having the specific competencies and experience for the special interest area This can be assessed in a number of ways but is readily demonstrated by GPs
Trang 7who have passed the Examination of the RCGP and who are current members of the College
and
Skilled at training health care professionals
and
Special interest
Evidence of working under direct supervision with a specialist clinician in relevant clinical areas The number of sessions should be sufficient to ensure that the GPwSI is able to meet the competencies of the service requirements, the skill being assessed and the level of expertise required For those clinicians with little
or no experience in relevant clinical areas this is likely to be in the region of 40 –
50 clinical sessions
or
Personal development portfolio showing evidence of relevant clinical skills and
knowledge.
and
Evidence of attendance at relevant courses (for example, family planning www.ffprhc.org.uk) or self directed learning to meet learning gaps identified through the professional development plan and annual appraisal
d Evidence of acquisition
The RCGP recommends that GPwSI in all areas maintain a personal development portfolio to identify educational requirements matched against the competencies required for the service, and evidence of how the learning needs have been met and maintained This portfolio can serve as a training record, counter-signed as appropriate by an Educational mentor or supervisor/s to confirm the satisfactory fulfilment of the required training experience and the acquisition of the
competencies enumerated in this document and others thought necessary by the employing authority This portfolio should form part of the GPwSI annual
appraisal
and
Evidence of delivering a sexual health service of quality within his/her general practice
Trang 8Examples of different evidence of competencies for the service.
• Demonstration of skills under direct observation by a senior clinician
• Demonstration of knowledge by personal study supported by appraisal
• Evidence of gained knowledge via attendance at accredited courses or
conferences
• Demonstration of ability to work in teams by evidence of taking part in multidisciplinary teamwork to plan and deliver service provision and
individual patient care
• Delivering multi- and uniprofessional training
• Base line experience working as a clinical assistant
e Evidence of maintenance of competencies
The GPwSI would be expected to maintain his or her competencies through continued professional development and education It is recommended that he or she undertakes a minimum of 15 hours CPD and undergoes annual appraisal in the special interest and generalist areas
It would be good practice for CPD to include multiprofessional and disciplinary learning Close links with specialist colleagues and others working in the field is important for maintenance of competencies
In order to maintain skills and expertise, it is recommended that the GPwSI spend
at least one session per week (ideally more) working in the special interest area and at least one session per week (ideally more) in working as a generalist
It is important that the GPwSI maintains some direct patient contact in the special interest area
Membership of a relevant national primary care organisation or network would add to this portfolio
f Accreditation process
This involves determining the core competencies for the special interest area, evidence required to demonstrate these competencies and criteria for maintenance
as defined in this framework These criteria have been set nationally following stakeholder consultation
Before appointing a GPwSI the PCO should ensure that the doctor has submitted evidence of his or her required competence to the expected standard defined by these criteria for accreditation
The mechanism for this process can be determined locally although it is
recommended that it should be through an assessment of evidence of competence contained in the practitioner’s ongoing personal development portfolio by local
Trang 9(e.g Clinical Governance Lead, Medical Director, local specialist) and/or
national (representative from Professional body or Special Interest Primary Care Organisation) assessors, where at least one assessor has in-depth specialist
knowledge of the clinical area
The PCO would be expected to provide a working environment as part of the GPwSI post that enables the doctor to practise the special interest area in a
competent manner
g The types of patients suitable for the service including age range,
symptoms, severity, minimum and maximum caseload/frequency and reason for referral
The details of the service depend entirely on the location and type of service offered as listed above Services may, for example, be located within a primary, secondary or non-statutory service, be direct access or through appointment, targeted or universal, gender or sexual orientation specific
The service configuration will depend on the needs of the PCO and other local factors In all GPwSI services the caseload should be sufficient such that the GPwSI is able to exercise their generic skills and deal with the physical,
psychological and social aspects of disease
The GPwSI should be able to demonstrate that their skills are actively used and audited, including evidence of development and adherence to national and local guidance
h Local guidelines on the use of the service
These will be determined at local level and may include information for referring clinicians about
• Referral pathways
• Communication pathways
• Inclusion and exclusion criteria for patients referred or treated by the service
i The facilities recommended for delivery of GPwSI in sexual health service
Although these will be determined by the service being provided, the following should ideally be present irrespective of the location or configuration of the
service:
• Access to mentoring/educational supervisor
• Direct access to specialist support
• Access to educational and relevant material, including provision of courses, conferences and protected time for CPD
• Access to a network of professionals working within the special interest area
Trang 10• Written confidentiality agreement for the service and other members of the team
• Appropriate sensitive and specific diagnosis tests for Chlamydia and other STIs
• Access to health advisor
• Clear sign-posting in the waiting room and practice leaflets to sexual health service available in the practice and elsewhere
• Access to medical and surgical Termination of Pregnancy providers
• IT facilities with Internet access
j Clinical governance, accountability and monitoring arrangements,
including links with others working in the same clinical area in primary care, at PCT level and in acute trusts
The GPwSI will be accountable to the PCT Board with clinical responsibility resting with the GPwSI
The Clinical Governance arrangements will follow those normally used for the PCT and should include systems or mechanisms for defining clinical audit and communication standards, significant event monitoring and complaint handing
The GPwSI service should have good mechanisms for joint working and
communication, including regular meetings with other service providers (e.g family planning specialists, GUM specialists, nurse specialists)
k Induction and support arrangements for the GPwSI
The induction process may include the following elements:
• Risk management
• Networking with other professionals
• Involvement in national clinical networks
• Clinical Governance arrangements
• Audit and reporting mechanisms
The GPwSI should have the appropriate funds and time for continuing
professional development, including attendance at multiprofessional team
meetings, audit events, relevant courses and conferences
The GPwSI should have access to an educational mentor, who may be a clinician with special interest in Sexual Health or other relevant professional