Follow up testing for sexually transmitted infection (STI) in children and young people (CYP) following sexual abuse or assault

Is it time for a new model?

Summary

The Bridge sexual assault referral centre sees 170 children yearly who have been recently sexually abused. We are the only service covering Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Avon and Somerset.
Sexual abuse may pass on sexually transmitted infections and testing for these forms an important part of the follow up care offered, to reassure children and their carers, and identify infection quickly.
Our current pathway for follow up testing involves referral to a sexual health clinic in our patients' local area (if over 13), their general practitioner or local paediatrician. This takes place 2 weeks after their visit to the Bridge. We believe this pathway is lacking, both in terms of the availability of testing in the local area and in the experience our children have when getting tested.
There is very little research about this specific problem but adult patients have similar issues. One young person told us that attending her local sexual health service after she visited us gave her 'additional anxiety and shame in what was already a very difficult and traumatising time'. We have also had local doctors decline to do the testing on younger children as they do not feel confident.
The purpose of this grant is to help us understand this issue more fully by talking to more of the children we have seen and; with the help of them and other groups of people and professionals, find out if a new service involving home testing may address the needs of children and young people better.