Sexual Health Teams

PKB is being used by Sexual health teams in many areas across the UK. The teams have found the following workflows very effective.


Sexual health clinic PKB workflows

When Covid 19 hit in March 2020, the team had to cease all walk in appointments as quickly as possible. Still wanting to be able to deliver the services to their patients and needing to replace all their face to face appointments with a virtual alternative, they came up with a new way to use PKB which has worked so well for both patients and the team they haven't return to their old way.

Delivering care through PKB using the secure messaging functionality, gives patients and the team the ability to deliver care virtually through their personal health record.


  • Patients send secure messages to professionals including images

  • Images do not have to be stored on local system to be shared with the clinical team

  • Removed apprehension about sharing images on a digital platform

  • Explanation given by professionals on how to send messages within PKB

  • Care delivered through PKB, no face to face appointments needed

Full instructions on how to send a photo through PKB secure messaging function can be found on the PKB manual here

Workflow

When a patient contacts the team through PKB, the professional reply's to the patient with:

  • Standard instructions on how to send an image

  • Pre-meeting consultation for triage

  • Patient has a Sexual Health ID (not NHS) so other teams can’t see the Sexual health team

  • Care and treatment is delivered virtually with no face to face appointment needed

When a sexual health team is starting out or adding secure messaging to their patient pathways, its important to check the privacy labels are set as Sexual health to reflect sexual health systems.

Additional benefits to the patients

  • More convenience for patients who no longer have to take time off work or arrange childcare

  • No travel costs for patients

  • 60% of patients in the satisfaction survey stated that they are happy to send photos securely via PKB

  • The ability to share their sexual health data discreetly and securely with the clinicians and health care professionals they choose

With patients and staff satisfaction high, the team will continue to build on their use of the platform to support patients to access sexual health service without stigma.

Photo messaging workflow are also useful for dermatology or post-operative.

Further information