Evaluation of a young person's sexual health service in a commercial setting.

Objective: To determine the acceptability and accessibility of a sexual health service for young people in a city centre pharmacy.

Design: Prospective qualitative survey of clients attending a new sexual health service, including client characteristics and semi-structured interviews.

Participants: Clients attending the service between January and May 1999.

Main Outcome Measures: Social demographics, reasons for attendance and consultation outcomes for clients together with their views of the service.

Results: A total of 98 clients (average of three clients per session) attended from January to May 1999, ranging from 14 to 39 years of age. Clients came from 41 postcode areas of the city (which has over 80 postcode areas) and neighbouring districts, covering all social strata. Only four clients had never been sexually active; 53 clients attended for emergency contraception, with 26 attending for hormonal contraception. A total of 93% of those asked were either satisfied or very satisfied with the opening times. All clients were satisfied or very satisfied with the clinic location.

Conclusions: The setting of a sexual health service for young people in a city centre pharmacy allows access from a wide area. The timing and location of the service were the most commonly quoted reasons for attendance. All clients were asked to participate in a semi-structured interview, unless the interviewer was already engaged; results were obtained for 66 clients (67% of attendees).