Sexual health clinics to be set up in Liverpool and Wirral secondary schools

February 4, 2010 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

Sexual health clinics are planned to open up in secondary schools in Liverpool and Wirral, offering pregnancy tests, morning-after pills, and other health advice.

England plans to expand clinics to secondary schools in Liverpool and Wirral, but family planning campaigners are calling the move “counter-productive.”

The expansion is part of the “extended schools” program began by the government in 2000. Now labeled as “extended services”, the program was created to enhance the health and wellbeing of England’s children and teens.

In the borough of Wirral, 13 of 29 secondary schools have already opened up clinics. Five schools in Liverpool are set to take part in a pilot program for the area. These schools are among nearly 1,000 schools across England taking part in the program. However, the National Children’s Bureau is pushing to have the clinics installed in all secondary schools and colleges.

In opposition to the clinics, Dr. Adrian Rogers, a general practitioner and founder of the Family Focus campaign told the Telegraph: “Offering this kind of service in the school setting is going to promote promiscuity. There is already free, confidential testing and advice available at every GP’s surgery and family planning clinic.”

“Schools would be far better holding group discussions about the stupidity, the seriousness and the damaging effects of immature teenage girls who indulge in early sex.”

Yet NHS Wirral, which provides the existing clinics, told the Liverpool Daily Post that the youth are requesting the services themselves. The NHS said that the initial clinics were so “well received” that plans were in the works to install them in all Wirral secondary schools.

“Initial indications have shown that health services in school teams are providing early identification on a range of potential health related issues,” said Gordon Fair, lead consultant of the program.

“We have found that many young people are being helped and guided on issues including smoking, alcohol use and associated risk-taking behaviors.”

The Liverpool pilot clinics come on the heels of 2007 data that showed 5.16 percent of girls between the ages of 15 and 17 in Liverpool fell pregnant, compared to a national average of 4.17 percent.

A Liverpool PCT spokeswoman told the Liverpool Daily Post that in the future, the clinics would be voluntary to secondary schools in Liverpool.

She added: “National and international research evidences that if we are to improve young people’s sexual health and reduce the number of unplanned conceptions in young people under the age of 18, we must provide high quality sexual health education, and easy access to sexual health services for information and support. This is one of a number of local projects that aim to do just that.”