Anglesea Medical joins Victorian Sexual Health Network

ANGLESEA Medical is now providing important sexual health services to residents in the town and across the Surf Coast

Last week, the general practice officially began its new partnership with the Victorian Sexual Health Network, which is led by the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC).

As the local GP partner for the network, Anglesea Medical is now providing testing and management of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) such as chlamydia, herpes (cold sores) and gonorrhoea.

Dr Lucy Dobson, a general practitioner at Anglesea Medical, said STIs were very treatable and preventable.

“Anglesea Medical aims to provide an inclusive and confidential environment where we can test, detect and treat STIs for people of the Surf Coast and surrounding shires.

“Detection and treatment of STIs is not just helping the individual but multiple people. We are aiming to provide asymptomatic testing, support people requiring treatment and aid contact tracing.”

Western Victoria Primary Health Network (WVPHN) chief executive officer Rowena Clift said the Victorian Sexual Health Network had reached out to WVPHN over the past few years to support the recruitment of GP clinics in the region.

“Western Victoria PHN is delighted with the outcome and congratulate Anglesea Medical on securing this important partnership to deliver sexual health services in the region.”

In 2021 there were 86,916 diagnoses of chlamydia, 26,577 of gonorrhoea and 5,570 of infectious syphilis in Australia.

MSHC has introduced innovations in STI testing and service delivery to respond to increasing STI rates and service demand.

The centre has now established seven general practice sexual health clinics, to further increase primary care capacity for STI testing and treatment:

Kardinia Health in Belmont is another GP partner delivering sexual health services across the western Victoria region.

“By partnering with Melbourne Sexual Health Centre we have been able to provide additional detailed training to our GP and nursing team, and through aligning with their communications we have seen an increase in patient numbers,” Kardinia Health chief executive officer Michelle Heagney said.

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