Hope House

Purpose of VANS team:

·       To assess and fast-track vulnerable/ hard to engage individuals with unmet sexual health needs into the service

·       Identify unmet sexual health needs in high risk individuals and support them to access the services required

·       Aim to offer mutually convenient booked appointments within a reasonable timeframe.

*** Please note our role is primarily clinical and covers sexual history taking, sexually transmitted screening and treatments, pregnancy testing and support around pregnancy advisory services, contraception advice and fitting, cervical cytology.  Our role does NOT include any counselling or work around healthy relationships, consent and safety ***

Referral Criteria

·       High Risk Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Assessment Outcomes

·       Looked after Child (LAC) Gloucestershire & out of county LAC placed in Gloucestershire

·       Significant professional concern in Children & Young people <25 year olds or in vulnerable or high risk adults (see below for definitions of vulnerable/high risk) 

Definitions of potentially high risk and vulnerable populations

Please note that many individuals within these subgroups would be able to independently navigate the systems for seeking sexual healthcare so in your referral please identify clearly why they specifically need our support and flexibility to be seen under VANS pathway

·       Children & Young people involved with Social Services including children in need, those with child protection issues and care leavers

·       Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) or at risk of CSE

·       Children excluded from school or having poor attendance/ poor educational attainment

·       Children & Young people not in education or employment (NEET)

·       Young parents (teenage – under 20)

·       Young women (teenage – under 20) who have had a termination of pregnancy

·       People with learning or physical difficulties or a mental health diagnosis who do not have support in place to be able to access mainstream services

·       People who are homeless

·       Men who have sex with men (MSM)

·       Intravenous drug users (IVDU)

·       People experiencing or survivors of domestic / sexual violence

·       Commercial Sex Workers

·       Women who have children already in the looked after system

·       People in minority ethnic groups (including gypsies/travellers) or who are

asylum seekers/refugees/migrants or who have been trafficked.

Who Can Refer Directly?

·       Any individual/ agency/ professional in contact with individuals as outlined in the referral criteria and definitions above who are in need of sexual healthcare.

How to refer?

·       Inform referee of this referral and gain their verbal consent for it and appropriate contact details

·       Complete and email referral form