Agenda item

Approval was sought from the Cabinet Member to transfer a proportion of the underspend from the Public Health Sexual Health 20/21 Out of Area Budget to Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust (DCHS) to support innovations in the Sexual Health Promotion Service and to procure and award a research project with the aim of understanding the sexual health and wellbeing needs and barriers to accessing services for those who are disproportionally affected by poor sexual health outcomes.

          The annual budget for the Derbyshire Integrated Sexual Health Service for 2020/2021 was £4,971,457, allocated across five tariff-based elements of the contract totalling £4,148,409.  During 2020/2021 financial year, all payments for the sexual health service had been paid using block payments, which do not include the additional Out of Area (OOA) budget for Derbyshire residents who access these services in other areas of the country.   The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a substantial underspend within the OOA budget of £837,721.

          Approval had been given to utilise a proportion of this underspend to support the delivery of additional sexual health services with the transfer of some of these funds to DCHS.  This enabled the Sexual Health service to provide the highest service quality by utilising core contacts, knowledge, and skills and an excellent opportunity for a joint working partnership approach between Derbyshire County Council and Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS FT.

          The additional elements were:

1.    Sexual Health Promotion Outreach Van;

2.    Derbyshire Integrated Sexual Health Service (ISHS) Accessibility and Engagement Fund, to support organisations and groups which work with communities most vulnerable to poor sexual health;

3.    MSM (sexually active gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men) who were at higher risk of contracting STIs and HIV;

4.    IT developments; and

5.    Summer campaign to encourage those aged 16 and over to have fun with their freedom but enjoy safer sex.

          The report went on to seek to procure an organisation with a proven track record of research and evaluation to:

1.    undertake a piece of collaborative research with DCHS to understand the sexual health and wellbeing needs and barriers to accessing services for those which were disproportionally affected by poor sexual health outcomes; and

2.    provide a set of co-developed recommendations for delivering effective and accessible Integrated Sexual Health services.

          Evidence suggested that investing more in the upstream sexual health promotion elements of the service improved long-term outcomes. There was strong evidence of cost-effectiveness for a range of sexual health interventions and development to show impact of sexual health interventions on wider socio-economic factors. 

          RESOLVED - that the Cabinet Member (1) approve the transfer of funding to DCHS to the value of £185,000 from the OOA budget for the Sexual Health Promotion Outreach Van; Derbyshire Integrated Sexual Health Service (ISHS) Accessibility and Engagement Fund; commission a specialist for MSM & LGBT community; IT developments; and marketing projects;

          (2) approve the procurement of a provider to undertake a piece of collaborative  research with DCHS to understand the sexual health and wellbeing needs and barriers to accessing services for those which are disproportionally affected by poor sexual health outcomes with a maximum value of £60,000; and

          (3) delegate the authority to award a contract for the research to the Director of Public Health.