PTK and PDPT do not reduce re-infection rates in women with chlamydia compared with patient referral. However, PDPT may offer other advantages such as simplicity and cost compared with patient referral.

Giving contraceptive advice antenatally is feasible and acceptable.

Barriers to accessing termination of pregnancy in a remote and rural setting: a qualitative study. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 123(10), pp. 1684-1691. (doi:10.1111/1471 This is the author's final accepted version.There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it.http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/119417/ Methods: Sixteen semi-structured, audio-recorded telephone interviews were conducted by a researcher with women who had consented to be interviewed at their initial assessment. Six stages of thematic analysis were followed to explore themes in and across participant accounts. Main outcome measures: Themes derived from interview transcripts.Results: Four themes emerged relating to barriers to access and experience: (i) the impact of travel for TOP, (ii) temporal factors unique to this population and how they affected women, (iii) the attitude of health professionals, notably general practitioners, as a result of local culture, and (iv) stigma surrounding TOP and the expectation that abortion will be traumatizing. Conclusions:Women in remote and rural areas experience barriers to accessing TOP.Prompt referrals, more providers of TOP and tackling stigma associated with TOP could make delivery of this service more equitable and improve women's journey through TOP.Tweetable abstract: Women in remote and rural areas of Scotland face multiple barriers to accessing termination of pregnancy.

Objective To determine willingness of health professionals to adopt new interventions for treating sexual partners of women with chlamydia.Design Anonymous, self-administered questionnaires of doctors, practice nurses and community pharmacists regarding novel testing/treatment options for partners of women with chlamydia.Setting Local (Scotland) and national (UK) clinical meetings in reproductive health, and community pharmacy (Lothian).Population Doctors (general practice, gynaecology, family planning) and practice nurses who were delegates at selected meetings in reproductive health and community pharmacists attending pharmacy meetings.Methods Doctors and nurses were invited to complete a questionnaire indicating their preferred strategy for testing/ treating sexual partners of women with chlamydia if given choice of partner notification, postal testing kit (PTK), patient delivered partner medication (PDPM) with azithromycin or combined PDPM and PTK. Community pharmacists were invited to complete a questionnaire regarding their willingness to introduce chlamydia testing and treatment services.Main outcome measures Reported preferences of doctors and nurses for partner testing/treatment strategies and willingness of pharmacists to offer new services.Results Questionnaires were completed by 211 doctors, 73 practice nurses and 50 pharmacists. The most popular choice of doctors (30%) and nurses (23%) was a combination of PDPM with PTK, with partner notification the least popular (8 and 3%, respectively). One in four doctors had previously used PDPM for treating partners. Most pharmacists were willing to supply free PTKs (98%), offer testing (75%) and treatment services (100%) and give women PDPM for partners (80%).Conclusion Relevant health professionals, who are increasingly involved in managing chlamydia, are largely in favour of introducing new strategies for treating sexual partners.

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Objective Expedited partner treatment (EPT) for uncomplicated Chlamydia trachomatis at the pharmacy is an alternative approach to partner notification that has not yet been evaluated within the UK. The aim of this study was to evaluate EPT for partners using pharmacies in Lothian.Design A pilot study over 18 months.Setting Selected healthcare settings and community pharmacies in Lothian, Scotland, UK.Population Sexual partners of index cases with uncomplicated C. trachomatis.Methods Index cases with uncomplicated C. trachomatis were given a pharmacy voucher to pass onto sexual partners. Partners could redeem vouchers for free treatment (azithromycin) at one of 90 pharmacies in the area.Main outcome measures The main outcome measure was the proportion of vouchers redeemed. Secondary outcomes included patient satisfaction, as determined at a telephone follow-up of a subgroup of female index cases from one study site, 1 month later.Results In total 577 vouchers were issued to chlamydia-positive index patients of mean age 22.9 years (range 15-47 years). A total of 231 vouchers were redeemed (40%), at a median of 2 days after issue. Only 4% of partners attended a clinic for treatment. Most index patients surveyed reported that partners were satisfied with this method of treatment (48 out of 55; 87%).Conclusions Expedited partner treatment for uncomplicated chlamydia at a pharmacy is a popular choice, and increases options on where, when and how partners are treated.