Patient Voice South
Case Study Competition
James Gagliardini: Consultation & Engagement Officer
Integrated Commissioning Unit
Summary
Portsmouth Integrated Commissioning Unit conducted a three month process of consultation
aimed at young people and adults using sexual health services in Portsmouth. The aim of
this project was to gain the opinions and experiences of local people on the current provision
of sexual health services in the city to assist with the future redesign of the service.
Dates
Start Date: August 2014
End Date: October 2014
Location:
Portsmouth, Hampshire
Target Groups
 MSM (Men who have sex with men)
 20-40 year olds who are in employment, education, training (EET)
 Teenage parents
 Service Users with Learning Disabilities
 Service Users with Mental Health difficulties
 BME Communities (Black, Minority, Ethnic)
 Black Afro Caribbean Men
 LGBT Community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender)
 Sex Workers
 Individuals with a disability
 Individuals using HIV services
Methods Used
 Focus Groups
 One to One interviews, both face to face and over the telephone
 Online and paper questionnaires
 Targeted engagement with specific community groups
 Public events
Total Number of Participants
Total participant breakdown by gender
Men
Women
Gender Queer
Undisclosed
Total
499
1105
2
63
1669
Aims and Objectives
We wanted to find out what patients attending sexual health services thought about the
current service provided in Portsmouth as well as from those who did not use them, and to
explore potential barriers they face. In particular, we wanted to gather the views and
suggestions from residents on where in the community some services could be delivered in
the future, instead of the traditional hospital setting.
We also wanted to gather the views from general practitioners, pharmacists and
professionals working in health and social care.
What I did
As the Stakeholder Consultation Officer for the team, it was my responsibility to plan, design
and carry out the consultation.
To begin with I developed a series of questionnaires to capture patient's experience of the
current service, expectations for future services; along with specific questionnaires designed
for targeted groups which included people with a learning disability and MSM (men who
have sex with men). As well as questionnaires for members of the public, I designed
questionnaires for general practitioners and pharmacists. All could be accessed either online
or as a paper copy. The surveys were evaluated by our Market Research Officer prior to the
consultation going live.
Working with the Marketing and Communications Officer for the Public Health Team, a
series of six posters advertising the consultation were designed These each included
imagery designed at targeting specific community groups to ensure maximum engagement.
The consultation was also advertised in Flagship, a local magazine delivered to all
Portsmouth residents.
Surveys were available online, the main sexual health clinic at St Marys Hospital as well as a
variety of community settings. A total of 1271 survey responses were collected; 1161 paper
copies and 110 online.
A series of focus groups took place over a period of two months aimed at young people,
Black Minority Ethnic communities, service users with a learning disability, MSM (men who
have sex with men), members of the transgender community, individuals using HIV services,
those with experience of substance misuse as well as targeted work in areas of known
deprivation in the city. These took place in a variety of settings and times to reflect each
group, for example I attended known support groups for those living with HIV and engaged
with hard to reach groups such as MSM by visiting a local sauna.
I attended a secondary school as well as groups for young people not in education to obtain
their views and experiences of current sexual health services in Portsmouth to explore their
thoughts on how access and information could be more readily available to them. The views
of young people also came from engagement with a local LGBT support group for young
people aged 11-19.
Members of the Public Health Team and I took part in a two day event at Portsmouth
University as part of their Freshers Fayre. We had a stall to promote good sexual health,
with give always including free contraception, signposting to services as well as getting the
views and ideas of 309 students on future sexual health services.
Feedback was also gathered from stakeholder organisations, pharmacists and GPs through
several events to run alongside the questionnaires. The stakeholders were asked their
thoughts on the provision of more community based services, efficiency of sexual health
promotion and service delivery.
For some individuals, issues of confidentiality meant that it was easier for them to comment
and feedback on the service in a private one to one with me. These took place either face to
face or over the telephone.
To ensure that participation in the project was recognised, volunteers in focus groups and
one to ones were offered a £10 high street voucher for their time.
Summary
From the consultation, it is clear that the quality of staffing and care is rated highly by those
accessing the current service.
The main points raised by the consultation are as follows; to put these in more contexts I
have included some of the comments given by participants.

A focus on community and primary care based services based in both clinical
and non-clinical settings
A nurse in the GP surgery would be great!
Heterosexual Female, 42

Increase of outreach workers
Definitely need more outreach! They should go to school and colleges, bit like the nit nurse,
telling them "this is where you should go to, either clinic for XYZ or the chemist"
Heterosexual Female, 37

Dedicated services and targeted work with school age children and young
people
"Don’t know any other services available outside of school. It's good in our school, 6 week
sorted programme, got asked if we wanted tests (chlamydia). Good to know it was there if I
needed it."
Heterosexual Male, 14
"Sorted (local project aimed at young people)has been really good, I know a lot of stupid
people and it's made me think twice about my choices"
Heterosexual Female, 15

The normalisation and de-stigmatisation of sexual health services through the
mainstreaming of sexual health promotion
There's no definitive guideline available about HIV and how exactly you can catch it, what
the risks are.
Gay Male, 34
"Sometimes the information that's out there about sex can be a bit scary, couldn’t it be a bit
more positive sometimes? Enjoy sex but stay safe"

Increase access and availability of services to reflect the needs of the local
population (review of operational times of clinics and appointment
system)streaming of sexual health promotion
"More appointments for people, they can just phone in and book. The wait to be seen is just
too long"
Heterosexual Male, 34
"Weekend appointments would be good"
Heterosexual Female, 36
"I think gay men should have an allocated time slot for a clinic"
Gay Male, 33
"I'm a driver and so work on a rota; days off are not regular. I can't get a day off when I need
to go to the clinic, both for GP and the hospital"
HIV Positive
Evaluation
Feedback from patients and stakeholders continues to influence the design and scope of the
new service. Plans are in place for further consultation to take place in January 2015 on
potential new models of service and it is anticipated that this dialogue will continue
throughout the forthcoming year.
The level of involvement and enthusiasm shown by patients and stakeholders to this piece of
work has been extremely positive; with a total of 1669 participants, the highest number the
department has received.
I had concerns that the personal nature and sensitivity of the service had the potential to
discourage involvement, but I found that in the right environment, people were happy to I
feedback and genuinely interested in looking at ways to improve the service. Patients
attending the sexual health services were more than willing to be involved in the survey and
even partake in telephone interviews.
The poster campaign worked well in terms of promoting the consultation and I received
several expressions of interest as a result. Further development with groups for whom
English is not their first language is, on reflection, needed to better understand possible
barriers they may face accessing services.
I will continue to engage with members of the public as proposals for a new service are
developed. The proposals will be evidence based, using the feedback from this consultation.
Contact Details
James Gagliardini
Stakeholder Consultation Officer
Integrated Commissioning Unit
Portsmouth City Council & Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group
Civic Offices, Floor 2
Portsmouth
PO1 2AL
T: 023 9268 8623
M: 07834 750 981
E: james.gagliardini@portsmouthcc.gov.uk