Sexual and Reproductive Health

As the UK’s largest specialist provider of community health services, HCRG Care Group is partnering with local authorities and ICBs to lead a transformation in sexual health.

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Sexual and Reproductive Health

Together we’re moving the system forward at an agile pace, and we’re doing it in ways that were aligned to the NHS 10 Year Plan even before it was created: moving from hospital to community, from analogue to digital and from treatment to prevention.

Our long-standing contracts of up to 15+ years show this sustained transformation at work, bringing timely prevention and intervention to communities, as well as investment that reduces lifetime costs for local authorities and the NHS.

For more, speak to:

Stephen Giles

General Manager

Stephen has been the General Manager of Sexual Health at HCRG Care Group for several years. He now also manages our Partnerships and Development to help transformation take place nationwide.

Hospital to Community

We take care into people’s homes and neighbourhoods by integrating general practice, large and small charities, and other locally based organisations to ensure treatment is accessible and the message on sexual health is heard wherever people are.

Photo of a user interacting with the Coventry and Warwickshire Sexual Health website on an iPad.

Analogue to Digital

We rapidly mobilise digital through SH:24, enabling more service user choice, fast-tracking complex cases, and taking the pressure off clinics through digitally delivered tests and treatment.

Sickness to Prevention

Assertive outreach, in alignment with the STI Prioritisation Framework, enables us to engage vulnerable groups, so we can educate and help prevent unwanted pregnancies and STIs, reducing future health and social costs.

How we’re making change happen fast

In sexual health community services there is a great need for targeted universalism: an approach that a) maintains access for all and b) prioritises high-need groups to ensure equity even when budgets might be reduced.

We do this with a near instantaneous shift from analogue to digital through SH:24 – welcoming service users through a digital front door and directing them to order STI test kits online and providing the clinically-backed digital advice they might need. This frees clinical resources for those with most complex needs, who we can fast track to the right service.

We also take the pressure off clinics and hospitals by ensuring patients are seamlessly directed to the right tier of care, whether that’s an appropriately qualified neighbourhood team, a specialist clinic or a third sector partner – and we integrate local providers and records behind a single point of access to ensure service users can walk through no wrong door, while allowing specialists to stay specialist.

The systems at work

Services designed and driven by need

As defined by commissioning priorities, population health data and community engagement, whether that means focusing on learning disability groups in Coventry or victims of domestic abuse in Rochdale.

National epidemiological and service-use data

This helps us to identify hotspots and STI incidence areas, so we can prioritise resources where the need is highest, and shift the system from sickness to prevention.

Driving partnerships with community-rooted organisations

This helps to build trust and ensure engagement where uptake is historically low.

High street clinic model

This de-stigmatises sexual health by making it visible and sensitively prominent, all while phasing out hospital based clinics to reduce estate costs.

Upfront investment

We've invested in new spaces, such as £2m invested into new high street clinics in Coventry & Warwickshire, creating modern, higher quality facilities that support the shift from hospital to community.

System leadership

We provide leadership to service providers, including managing GP and pharmacy contracts, making them a seamless part of integrated pathways for contraception and STI care.

First-class training

This helps to enhance prevention outcomes, as in Oldham, Bury & Rochdale, where a GP training programme increased LARC activity by 78%, reducing pressure on specialist clinics.

Smart delivery model

This ensures those who need specialist care are identified and seen early and waitlists are kept down.

Empowered teams

Our people are supported by structures that enable them to take ownership and find solutions without waiting for instruction – meaning those who know the services best are the ones empowered to continue to improve it

Trauma informed approaches

This ensures we can reduce inequalities and improve health and wellbeing outcomes for the most vulnerable groups.

Shift to digital and at home testing through SH:24

Since the majority of STI tests are negative, our digitally delivered STI and HIV testing services reduce unnecessary visits, freeing up clinical resources for more complex cases.

How to work with us

If you’re a commissioner looking to make change happen in your communities, our delivery model is a green light for your ambitions. Our agile, joined-up and co-designed ways of working ensure you don’t need to compromise quality to build an efficient system – even saving up to 10% in the process.

Whether you’re looking to procure or simply explore the ways we can create outcomes even on reduced budgets we want to talk.

High Street Sexual Health / Physical services

Our in-person services make the most of neighbourhood teams, high street clinics, and third sector partnerships to prioritise outreach and visibility, while keeping care pathways streamlined and easy to navigate.

Our Quality Promise is holistic and ensures we not only deliver high quality services but we also fulfil the requirements of good citizenship: addressing the wider economic, social, and environmental challenges faced by your communities.

  • STI Testing & Treatment
  • HIV Testing & Treatment
  • PrEP
  • Family Planning
  • Long-Acting Contraception

Digital Sexual Health (via SH:24)

Our digital offer through SH:24 enables the digital elements of a new service to go live almost immediately.

This includes making prevention education resources accessible but also, crucially, it involves a large-scale analogue-to-digital shift from in-clinic to digital and at-home STI tests.

  • STI Testing & Treatment
  • HIV Testing [& Treatment (via our F2F Services)]
  • Contraception
  • PrEP HIV Prevention
  • Sexual Health Advice