Chlamydia screening programme areas are encouraged to engage a range of screening venues to participate in the National Chlamydia Screening Programme, including pharmacies.
In addition to this, the Department contracted Boots to pilot the potential of community pharmacies as locations for chlamydia screening. Screening started on 14 November 2005. To date, nearly 43,000 screens have been undertaken with a positively rate of around 8 per cent. This pilot is being independently evaluated by TNS Healthcare.
In support of commissioners, the Department is working with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and the national health service to develop a national template for a chlamydia screening local enhanced service through the NHS Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework.
(2) how many tests for chlamydia infection have been undertaken in the 16 to 24-year-old age group in the year 2007-08 to date (a) in England and (b) broken down by primary care trust; and what percentage of 16 to 24-year-olds this represents in each case.
For the National Chlamydia Screening Programme, as at March 2007, there were 220,147 females and 49,993 males between the ages of 16 to 24 who provided a primary care trust (PCT) postcode of residence, who were tested for chlamydia in England. PCT data for 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 have been placed in the Library.
Information is not currently available by PCT or by the number of tests undertaken within genito-urinary clinics. The number of diagnoses of uncomplicated chlamydia infection in 16 to 24-year-olds in genito-urinary clinics in England by strategic health authority and sex for 2006, is given in the following table.
Strategic health authority Gender Number of diagnoses East Midlands Male 2,473 East Midlands Female 3,454 East of England Male 2,184 East of England Female 3,304 London Male 4,468 London Female 6,619 North East Male 1,774 North East Female 2,196 North West Male 4,723 North West Female 6,121 South Central Male 1,771 South Central Female 2,681 South East Coast Male 1,515 South East Coast Female 2,041 South West Male 2,563 South West Female 3,084 West Midlands Male 2,476 West Midlands Female 3,265 Yorkshire and the Humber Male 3,304 Yorkshire and the Humber Female 4,434 England Male 27,251 England Female 37,199 Notes: 1. Data are only available up to the calendar year 2006. 2. Data are not available at the PCT level. 3. Data on the number of test for chlamydia infection are not available. 4. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are for diagnoses made in GUM clinics only. Diagnoses made in other clinical settings, such as general practice, are not recorded in the KC60 dataset. 5. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are the number of diagnoses made, not the number of patients diagnosed. For example, individuals may be diagnosed with several co-infections and each diagnosis will be counted separately. 6. The information provided has been adjusted for missing clinic data. Sources: 1. KC60 returns. 2. Health Protection Agency.