Project summary
Eleven members of the public identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender attended clinics and gave feedback on the service they had received. Their comments have informed an audit of sexual health services in Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Project Dates
Start Date: 21/07/2008
End Date: 21/09/2008
Location of project
Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Area of healthcare
Community care, Sexual health services
Target groups
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual
Approaches used
Interviews, Surveys, Mystery shoppers
Aims and objectives
To provide effective mechanisms for Sandyford to engage and consult on its services with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) service users
To assist Sandyford to meet its PFPI requirements regarding LGBT people and their sexual and emotional health.
To ensure that the thoughts, feelings, opinions and views of LGBT people and their experiences of accessing both generic and LGBT-specific services at Sandyford are reported back to staff and management and inform service improvements
What we did
This scheme involved visits by 'professional patients' to Sandyford clinics within Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to gain a user perspective on the services delivered by each clinic.
We aimed to recruit twelve people aged 16 or over who identified as LGBT and who live, work or socialise in Greater Glasgow area. Unfortunately due to personal reasons one participant had to drop out. Some were former service users and some had never accessed the service. Eleven visits to clinics were made in total and the participants were paid.
The Mystery Shoppers assessed the appropriateness, acceptability and user-friendliness of our services for LGBT users. They were not expected to disclose personal information such as test results or which procedures they may have had.
Following their visits, the shoppers completed forms which asked them to comment on a range of issues relating to the clinic and service they had received. These comments were compiled into a report and action plan.
Training undertaken
An induction process was undertaken to ensure that the team of 'mystery shoppers' had a general understanding of Sandyford, its role and services and its social model approach to service provision - as well as some understanding of sexual health, issues of inequalities and consultations.
Each mystery shopper was trained and briefed about their Sandyford visit, and attended the clinic anonymously.
Evaluation
The mystery shoppers were asked to comment on many issues, including: location, accessibility, opening times, waiting times, making an appointment, LGBT friendliness, welcoming atmosphere, waiting area, staff attitudes, appropriateness of the service, knowledge and assumptions of staff, resources and information, confidentiality and any general comments.
A de-brief session was held so that the shoppers could have a group discussion about their visits. The observations and direct feedback have been complied in the attached report leading to specific areas of action where necessary.
Plans for the future
The findings from this project, combined with results from an LGBT leaflet review and a survey of Sandyford staff on LGBT issues, informed an LGBT audit of Sandyford services.
An audit of LGBT sexual health services continues through the Sexual Health Equalities Steering group. There may be opportunities to build on this work, providing useful learning for other organisations, and also to develop staff training for other sexual health services.