Genitourinary medicine services in the United Kingdom are failing to meet current demand

Abstract

Recent increases in the incidence of sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the UK have given rise to concerns over the ability of genitourinary medicine (GUM) services to cope with increased demands. We conducted a postal survey to assess the capacity of GUM clinics to meet patient demand for both routine and emergency consultations. A questionnaire was sent to all lead GUM physicians in the UK. The response rate was 80%. In some clinics, patients had to wait for up to 28 days for routine appointments. Urgent appointment patients were seen within 24 h by only 54% of clinics and some had to wait for at least one week (5% of clinics). Prolonged waiting times were reported nationwide in addition to widely expressed concerns about the increasing workload. Additional resources should be made available to GUM services if the population's sexual health is to be improved.

Vicious and Virtuous Circles in the Dynamics of Infectious Disease and the Provision of Health Care: Gonorrhea in Britain as an Example

“…Currently in Britain, it appears that GUM-clinic capacity is overwhelmed and that the spreading of STIs is out of control, with both waiting times and rates of treatment of infection (which underestimate the true incidence-and by an increasing amount as waiting times increase) increasing [2][3][4][5]. That is, it appears that the system is moving toward the high-incidence equilibrium.…”

A metapopulation modelling framework for gonorrhoea and other sexually transmitted infections in heterosexual populations

“…We also demonstrate how making small changes in parameter estimates changes the modelled incidence. Firstly, waiting times for accessing care for STIs in the UK were noted to have increased (Djuretic et al 2001;Foley et al 2001;Griffiths et al 2004) in the last decade. We modelled a 5-day increase for the duration of care-seeking incidence rate per 100 000 population incidence rate per 100 000 population (a) Distribution of high-activity individuals (f) and endemic incidence for pZ0.7, where p is the proportion of sexual partnerships formed exclusively with those from within the same subpopulation.…”

Is triage an appropriate way of dealing with walk-in patients attending genitourinary medicine clinics?

“…1 As a result, patients wishing to access GU medicine services face unacceptably long waiting times for the next available appointment. [2][3][4][5][6] GU medicine services have responded by embracing a process of modernization, which has resulted in a number of successful initiatives resulting in new ways of working, 7 thus increasing the capacity of the services. In order to maintain open access for those who require acute attention, many services have introduced triage systems for patients who attend without appointments (walk-ins).…”