1. Purpose
When someone is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection, their recent partners may also be infected, often without symptoms. Partner notification (contact tracing) offers those partners testing and treatment, breaks the chain of transmission, and protects the patient from reinfection. It must be done in a way that protects the identity of the person first diagnosed. This policy sets out how the Service carries out partner notification, sensitively and confidentially.
The Service must verify this policy against current BASHH partner notification standards before adoption.
2. Sources to verify before adoption
- British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH), partner notification standards: https://www.bashh.org/
- UK Health Security Agency, sexual health and STI surveillance guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-health-security-agency
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, Regulation 12 (safe care and treatment): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2936/regulation/12
- The Service's confidentiality in sexual health policy
3. Scope
This policy applies to:
- partner notification for the sexually transmitted infections the Service diagnoses
- the clinicians and health advisers who carry it out
- the index patient (the person first diagnosed) and their partners
4. Offering partner notification
- partner notification is offered to every patient diagnosed with an infection for which it is appropriate, sensitively and without judgement
- the patient is told why it matters, for their partners' health and to prevent their own reinfection
- the patient is supported to take part, but is not coerced; their consent and choices are recorded
5. The look-back period and which partners
For each infection the Service uses the recognised look-back period (how far back partners should be traced) from current BASHH guidance, and helps the patient identify the partners within it. The Service confirms the periods it uses against the current standards.
6. Methods of notification
The Service agrees with the patient how partners will be told, using the recognised methods:
- patient referral: the patient tells their partners themselves, with the Service's support and information to give them
- provider referral: the Service contacts the partners, with the patient's consent, without revealing who named them
- contract referral: the patient agrees to tell their partners within an agreed time, failing which the Service does it
Whichever method is used, the index patient's identity is protected. A partner is never told who named them.
7. Protecting the index patient
- partner notification is carried out so that no partner can identify the index patient
- where revealing certain details would identify the index patient, the Service does not reveal them
- the index patient's confidentiality (see the confidentiality policy) is maintained throughout
8. Recording and outcomes
- the partners identified, the method agreed, and the outcomes (partners contacted, tested and treated) are recorded for each index case, in line with the confidentiality policy
- the Service reviews partner notification outcomes as a measure of effectiveness, looking at the proportion of partners reached
9. Difficult situations
- where a patient refuses partner notification and there is a serious risk to an identifiable person, the Service follows its confidentiality policy on disclosure in the public interest, weighing the decision carefully and recording it
- where a named partner raises a safeguarding concern (for example a child, or coercion or abuse), the Service follows the under-18s and safeguarding policy
- HIV and certain infections may have specific considerations; the Service follows the current BASHH guidance for these
10. Training
Clinicians and health advisers who carry out partner notification are trained and competent in it, including the look-back periods, the methods and the confidentiality protections, and are refreshed on a stated cadence. The Service records who is competent and the next refresher date.
11. Audit cadence
The Service checks, on a stated cadence, that:
- partner notification was offered for every relevant diagnosis and the patient's choices recorded
- the correct look-back periods and methods were used
- the index patient's identity was protected
- outcomes are recorded and reviewed, and difficult situations were handled per the confidentiality and safeguarding policies
The Registered Manager and the clinical lead review the results and record the improvement actions that follow.