05 Aug Scientific Highlight – 16th ESC Congress
Paula Baraitser, UK
Paula Baraitser is a consultant in sexual and reproductive health at King’s College Hospital, an honorary senior lecturer in global health at Kings College London and clinical director of the online sexual health service SH:24. Paula has spent the last five years developing and researching online sexual health services, doing detailed evaluation on safety and effectiveness. Paula is a Trustee of the UK Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health Care and a fellow of the UK Faculty of Public Health.
Lecture: UK national standards for internet governance in online sexual health service
Online sexual health services can improve the sexual health of populations by increasing access to testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infection and improving contraceptive continuation rates. They also generate important challenges around quality and safety. Online services must ensure that there is adequate clinical information and advice, informed consent to testing and treatment and strategies to identify vulnerabilities among online service users with appropriate referral. Like any other health service they require robust quality assurance against nationally agreed standards but these need to address quite different issues from those developed for face-to face care. This presentation will collate the evidence on the safety of online services and shows how this has influenced the development of nationally agreed standards for online sexual health care in the United Kingdom.