A community based lesbian sexual health service - clinically justified or politically correct?

Lesbian sexual health care is still a neglected issue. In order to address this, a needs assessment was carried out in Glasgow amongst the lesbian com munity and 200 responses were received. More than 40% of the respondents sa id they were unable to disclose their sexual orientation to their GP and we re unable to discuss sexual health issues with them. Eighty-one percent sai d there was a need for a lesbian sexual health service and 71% said they wo uld use such a service if it existed Therefore a pilot clinic was set up in Glasgow, and was co-ordinated by a multidisciplinary advisory group. The c linical component of the service was audited and it was found that gynaecol ogy and fertility issues were the most common presenting condition (52%), f ollowed by psychosocial issues (26%). Genitourinary problems, such as vagin al discharge, constituted 20% of presentations. Client satisfaction with th e clinic was high. This pilot service showed that areas of sexual health care, such as the nee d for inclusion in cervical smear programmes and equality of access to assi sted conception, are issues which are important to this minority group and which need to be addressed The clinic is now ongoing as a result of the pil ot scheme and is the only family planning based lesbian health service in t he UK.