BASHH

BASHH statement on the training of healthcare workers providing clinical care in the field of sexually transmitted infections (STI) May 2011

National standards for the management of STI were published in January 2010 by BASHH and have been supported by all relevant national professional stakeholder organisations (1).

Standard 2 relates to the training of staff and makes the following statements:

 - People at risk of STI should have their care managed by an appropriately skilled health professional. Individual practitioners are responsible for maintaining their own competence but should be supported in this by their employing organisation.

 - Agreed mechanisms should be in place for the assessment of clinical competence. These should be standardised and common across all professional groups.

 - Services should be able to provide assurance that professionals delivering care for the management of STIs can demonstrate that they are competent and remain competent to do so.

Professional regulatory bodies for doctors and nurses (the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council respectively) both clearly state that doctors and nurses must provide a high standard of practice and care, must recognise and work within the limits of their competence and must keep their skills and knowledge up to date(2,3).

The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV believes that the best competency-based training and assessment for doctors and nurses working within the field of STI currently available (4) are those provided through its STI Foundation (STIF) courses, and encourages healthcare workers, managers and commissioners to take up these educational initiatives in order to ensure delivery of the highest quality of care to patients.

1. Standards for the management of sexually transmitted infections 2010.
2. http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/good_medical_practice/contents.asp
3. http://www.nmc-uk.org/Nurses-and-midwives/The-code/The-code-in-full/#standard
4. The exception being the training of registrars in GU medicine to obtain a CCT (Certificate of Completion of Training) in the specialty, where a highly developed course of training is in place through the Royal College of Physicians and under the regulation of the General Medical Council.

Dr Keith Radcliffe
President