Female sexual health checker launched
Women can now go online at anytime for quick, confidential advice about sexual health problems
NHS Direct has launched a health and symptom checker for women looking for confidential sexual health advice online. Since its launch in June, it has already received over 62,000 visits.
The health and symptom checker covers a wide range of symptoms and problems, such as sexually transmitted diseases, period problems, loss of sex drive, and pain when urinating or during intercourse.
It works by asking the user a series of questions. Depending on the information provided, women may be offered self-care advice so that they can manage their symptoms at home, or it may suggest that further advice is sought from another health provider such as a GP, A&E or a sexual health (GUM) clinic.
A call back from an NHS Direct nurse advisor is only a click away if a further assessment is recommended, and the caller can choose to remain anonymous for the call back if they wish.
NHS Direct takes around 12,000 calls a month about sexual health and around 75 per cent of sexual health calls are from women. The most frequent sexual health-related symptoms women call about are vaginal bleeding, dysuria (painful urination), rectal bleeding, vaginal discharge, and advice about emergency contraception or missed contraception.
A men’s sexual health checker is already available online, along with four others covering contraception advice, mental health, colds and flu and an initial assessment.
All of NHS Direct’s health and symptom checkers have been developed to reflect the same protocols used by NHS Direct’s telephone advisors so patients get the same experience whether they use the phone or web.
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