Clinical Services and How to Refer

People can self-refer to Unity Sexual Health for:

• Testing for sexually transmitted infections
• Contraception advice
• Advice on unplanned pregnancy
  • Central Booking Line 0345 872 5435
• Initial consultation for psychosexual problems
• Advice on sexual assault
  • The Bridge

For information on current Unity clinics and opening hours please click here.

If your patient is struggling to access our service and you feel they need review please call:

For Bristol and South Gloucestershire: 0117 342 6913 (professionals only)

For North Somerset, WISH @ Unity: 01934 881234

If you wish to contact Unity Sexual Health you may do so in the following ways:

Urgent referrals or for sexual health advice:

• During clinic opening hours call:

For Bristol and South Gloucestershire: 0117 342 6913

For North Somerset, WISH @ Unity: 01934 881234

• If unable to get through, call and leave a message with a DIRECT LINE or MOBILE PHONE NUMBER for reply on the secure answerphone on 0117 342 6944 (health advisers) or 0117 342 6933 (direct line to reception). The message will be passed to the covering doctor for the next clinical session.
• Please leave a number for direct call back for professionals rather than the generic GP surgery number as this is very time-consuming.

Emergency IUD referral:

• Bristol and South Gloucestershire: Please email the Emergency IUD form to UnityReferrals@uhbw.nhs.uk
• North Somerset : Please email the WISH Emergency IUD referral form to wishcentre@uhbw.nhs.uk  

Routine/ non-urgent/ psychosexual referrals:

• Bristol and South Gloucestershire: please see the Unity LARC referral form below and send to UnityReferrals@uhbw.nhs.uk
• North Somerset:  please see the WISH LARC referral form below and send to: wishcentre@uhbw.nhs.uk  
• GUM referrals, please write a letter and either post to Unity Sexual Health, Central Health Clinic, Tower Hill, Bristol, BS2 0JD or email:

For Bristol and South Gloucestershire: UnityReferrals@uhbw.nhs.uk

For North Somerset, WISH @ Unity: wishcentre@uhbw.nhs.uk

• We are working on using the E-Referral System (ERS) but do not have capability to use this yet.

Our current waiting time for appointments is approximately 6-8 weeks. Patients are welcome to self-refer for some services (see above section).

Please use the templates below for referrals relating to emergency IUD insertion and non-urgent long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) procedures,  including routine or complex IUD, IUS or implant insertions or removals.

We plan to introduce the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS). We will send out communications once the e-RS becomes live for our service.

UPDATE:

1. As of Jan 2024, Mirena now has an 8 year license for contraception (only – no extension on use for HRT) – the extended use for contraception does not yet apply to other 52mg LNG IUD ( ie Levosert, Benilexa) – Unity is commissioned to provide LNG-IUDs for contraception only therefore we will not be routinely replacing Mirenas earlier than the 8 yr license.
2.  As per FSRH IUC guidance 2023,  any 52mg LNG-IUD may be used for endometrial protection ( 5 yrs) as part of combined HRT regime

Unity clinics

For contraception and sexual health the Bristol and South Gloucestershire contact telephone number is 0117 342 6900.

The telephone lines are open::

• • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday:  8.30am – 5pm
  • Wednesday:  8.30am – 2pm; 3pm – 5pm (closed between 14.00-15.00 for staff training)
  • Friday:  8.30am – 1pm
  • Saturday:  9am – 12pm

At Unity@Central we run a triage-first system. Please note: Our services are extremely busy and our initial telephone triage appointments can be filled early in the day.

At present we are not offering regular repeated cryotherapy (freezing treatment) for warts unless topical treatment is contraindicated.

Appointments may be offered at:

• Central Health Clinic (BS2 0JD)
• Unity@Concord (BS34 6BQ)
• Unity@South Bristol Community Hospital (BS14 0DE)
• Unity@Cossham (BS15 1LF)
• Unity@Yate (BS37 4AX)

WISH @ Unity (Weston-Super-Mare, North Somerset)

If you wish to make an appointment or to speak to someone at the clinic in Weston-Super-Mare, call WISH @ Unity on  01934 881234. 

The Unity @ WISH, Weston telephone lines are open:

• Monday: 9.00am-4.30pm
• Tuesday: 9.15am-7.15pm
• Wednesday:  8.15am-4.00pm
• Thursday:  CLOSED
• Friday:  8.30am-2pm
• Saturday:  9.15am-12.15pm (first and third Saturday of each month only)
• Sunday: CLOSED

Unfortunately, it is not possible for WISH staff to book appointments at Central Health Clinic or any Unity community clinics.

Our telephone lines are usually busy, but we do work through the calls and messages as quickly as we can. If you cannot get through when you first call, then please try again later.

If you wish to refer your patient for an emergency or post-coital IUD, please open and complete the IUCD referral form (find at the bottom of this page).

• Bristol and South Gloucestershire Pharmacy and GP: Please email the form to UnityReferrals@uhbw.nhs.uk
• North Somerset Pharmacy and GP: Please email the form to wishcentre@uhbw.nhs.uk
• Pharmacists may use Pharm Outcomes to make an automated referral.

PLEASE ADVISE YOUR PATIENT THAT WE WILL CONTACT THEM FROM A “No Caller ID” or “Withheld”  NUMBER. We will attempt to call them on a maximum of two occasions. If they do not answer after the second call no further attempts will be made.

All patients will be contacted prior to the offer of an appointment to clarify their details and confirm appointment timings. If they do not answer, they cannot be offered an appointment and they will not have their IUD fitted.

Further guidance on how to calculate the latest time that an emergency IUD may be fitted is available in the document below and also on the sexual health pages of the Remedy website.

UPDATE:

1. As of Jan 2024, Mirena now has an 8 year license for contraception (only – no extension on use for HRT) – the extended use for contraception does not yet apply to other 52mg LNG IUD ( ie Levosert, Benilexa) – Unity is commissioned to provide LNG-IUDs for contraception only therefore we will not be routinely replacing Mirenas earlier than the 8 yr license.
2.  As per FSRH IUC guidance 2023,  any 52mg LNG-IUD may be used for endometrial protection ( 5 yrs) as part of combined HRT regime

If you are a Bristol or South Glos GP and would like to refer a patient for a LARC method at Unity Sexual Health please see the Unity LARC referral form below and send to UnityReferrals@uhbw.nhs.uk

If you are a North Somerset GP and would like to refer a patient for a LARC method at Unity Sexual Health please see the WISH LARC referral form below and send to: wishcentre@uhbw.nhs.uk

• For patients requesting a copper or LNG-IUD, you may wish to highlight the IUC self assessment form which they may complete and bring with them to their appointment
• All lost thread referrals for removal must have an ultrasound report included from the last 6 months confirming that the IUS/IUD is in situ
• For complex implant removals please state whether the implant was palpable
• Further information about LARC referrals may be found on the sexual health pages of the Remedy website

The current commissioning arrangements for fitting the LNG-IUD and contraceptive implant in our clinics specifies that we can only fit these methods in certain situations, as below:

• There has been a referral from a GP for specific contraception advice and request for fitting of long acting reversible contraception

• Where a GP cannot remove an implant, Unity will remove and replace if a further implant is required

• IUD removal and replacement is outside scope of GP contract

• Medical complexity of an individual requiring LARC which is outside GP expertise and requires specialist sexual health advice/treatment such as long term medical conditions

• Any young person under 20 attending Unity Sexual Health
• Where there is no alternative form of contraception in place at the time of presentation (excluding the use of condoms).

Patients who do not meet any of the criteria above will be advised to contact their GP for an appointment.

Fitting of LNG-IUD in Secondary Care (when not for contraception) is on the Interventions Not Normally Funded (INNF) list as ‘Criteria Based Access’ for all Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire patients. Any patients who request an appointment for this will be referred back to their GP. Please see the Intrauterine Coil Insertion and Removal in Secondary Care Policy for further information. Please note, where an LNG-IUD has been fitted at the age of 45 or over, the device may be retained for contrcaeption until the age of 55. If used as the progestogenic component of HRT the device must be replaced every 5 years but this would require a referral to gynaecology services – not Unity.

Central booking number  0345 872 5435

Patients can self-refer on this 24-hour telephone line.

You can call the Central Booking number on behalf of your patient, or provide it to your patient for them to call.

The operator will ask for some basic information such as name, date of birth and GP details (if the patient has one). This is for all women, regardless of age, in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset with an unplanned pregnancy. This number is free and available 24/7.

If a patient is under 18 years of age we would be very grateful if you would be able to provide us with additional information (you can either email this to ubh-tr.TeenagePregnancyOutreachNurses@nhs.net from a secure nhs.net email only or send the referral in the post to FAO PAS Outreach Nurses, Unity Sexual Health, Central Health Clinic, Tower Hill, Bristol, BS2 0JD.).

This is in addition to a referral via the Central Booking number.  Please see below for the Under 18’s Additional Information form.

If there are complex medical and/or social factors please phone on their behalf to make an appointment and where possible provide a letter with details (including the date of the appointment made).

If you would like to speak to someone directly at Pregnancy Advisory Service regarding a specific referral, please call 0117 342 6824. You will not be able to make an appointment using this number.

At Unity we offer a number of specialist clinics.

In general, patients will need to be referred into these clinics.

When referring patients into our specialist clinics it is extremely helpful if you could include their medical history, medications and relevant tests or previous relevant referrals.

The following patients can be seen in specialist clinics:

• Male-bodied with:
  • chronic pelvic pain
  • chronic urethral discharge
• Female-bodied with
  • recurrent bacterial vaginosis
  • recurrent thrush
  • chronic unexplained troublesome vaginal discharge or other vulvo-vaginal symptoms
  • complex contraception issues
  • long acting reversible contraception needs that cannot be provided by the surgery
  • deep or impalpable contraceptive implants

To refer a patient to our service please write a letter and include a summary of all medical conditions, medication, treatments tried and relevant test results.

Please send your referral to:

For Bristol and South Gloucestershire: UnityReferrals@uhbw.nhs.uk

For North Somerset, WISH @ Unity: WishCentre@uhbw.nhs.uk

Please note that we are not commissioned to provide advice or treatment for menopausal symptoms.

We continue to offer psychosexual services to the patients of Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

To refer a patient to this service please write a letter and include a summary of all medical conditions, medication, treatments tried and relevant test results.

Please send your referral to UnityReferrals@uhbw.nhs.uk

Please note that we are not commissioned to provide advice or treatment for menopausal symptoms and are unable to accept referrals for this indication.

We recommend the RCGP Womens Health Library as a useful tool to access guidelines and e-learning resources.