Hywel Dda launches Home Test and Post (TAP) Pilot for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea

Hywel Dda launches Home Test and Post (TAP) Pilot for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea

From 12th November there will be a pilot service running for residents in the Hywel Dda University Health Board area. A test kit for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea that can be used at home will be available via the ‘Frisky Wales’ website http://www.friskywales.org/

Lisa Humphrey, HDUHB Sexual Health Service Delivery Manager, says:

“All you have to do is go to the website, click on the Test and Post banner, answer some questions to make sure that this service is right for you and you will receive your kit in the post.”

Currently, in Wales, there is no centrally available self-testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), only through private purchase, which is expensive and therefore inaccessible to many in Wales. Diagnostic testing outside the healthcare setting means there is generally no link to specialist services and the quality of care offered may be variable.

Following Public Health Wales’ Sexual Health Review, a pilot project, supported through the Bevan Commission Exemplars programme, has been established to develop a new testing strategy for self-sampling for STIs. Public Health Wales, in collaboration with Hywel Dda University Health Board and Signum Health, are leading this project which has been funded by Welsh Government. This will help inform future service provision in Wales.

Zoe Couzens, Public Health Wales NHS Trust, says:

“We will be trying a new test that uses swabs for everyone instead of a urine sample. This makes posting kits easier for everyone. There will be 1,000 test kits available. The service will then be evaluated to ensure that it is the right thing for Wales so we will be looking for people to tell us what they think by completing an online survey.”