Accessibility and Acceptability of Public Sexual Health Clinics for Adult Clients in New South Wales, Australia.

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to examine the accessibility of public sexual health clinics (SHCs), identify the service preferences of clients and assess whether the services delivered by public SHCs were acceptable (suitable) to users’ expectations. Participants were adult clients attending public SHCs in 4 different geographical regions of New South Wales (NSW). A self completed anonymous questionnaire survey was employed in this study and the data was collected over a two week period per clinic. The overall participation rate was 89%. Three hundred and two clients participated of which 68.2% and 31.8% were males and females respectively. Geographical proximity to residence or work was the single most common reason cited to choose a particular clinic by all clients. The main source of information about public SHCs for young and middle aged clients was their personal contacts, whereas for older individuals it was health professional’s referral. Of the total sample, nearly 59% vs. 32% of clients used private and public transport to get to the clinic. About 80% of private transport users of the city and suburban clinics had indicated some difficulty with parking facilities. For more than two thirds of clients, the time taken to get to the clinic was less than 30 minutes. Overall, more clients preferred an appointment (56%) compared to a walk-in (32%) system. Nearly 65% of all clients preferred to attend the clinic during the weekdays and about 11% preferred weekends. Of those clients who had a preference for a time to attend a clinic, 83.3% attended clinic in their preferred time. Overall, more than one third (39%) of all clients preferred a same gender health care worker (HCW) whereas 13% of clients did not prefer a same gender HCW. Among clients who had a clear preference, more than 90% of all females and nearly 80% of overseas born males preferred a same gender HCW. More females (81%) than males (59%) were actually able to have a consultation with a HCW of their preferred gender. The majority (79%) of clients preferred to consult the same doctor in the follow up visits and only a few clients (5%) preferred a separate male and female waiting room. The vast majority (97%) of clients had no difficulty with language during consultation. About 93% of clients had rated the services delivered by public SHCs to be either excellent or good. The public SHCs were found to be accessible and acceptable to the clients who currently utilise them. Designated parking spaces for the city and suburban clinic users and providing an option for female and overseas born male clients to select a HCW of their preferred gender need to be considered. Further research is required to examine accessibility and acceptability aspects of public SHCs for the potential clients who either currently use other services or do not access any form of services.