A DORCHESTER-based contraception and sexual health service has received national recognition for being ‘young-people friendly’.

Dorset HealthCare Univer-sity NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised by the Department of Health for involving its service users when its planning and provision of heath care.

The Trust’s Contraception and Sexual Health Service, based in the Children Centre in Damers Road, is the first in Dorset to be awarded the ‘You’re Welcome’ mark – a quality indicator of health services that are young people friendly.

In order to gain its accreditation, the Contraception and Sexual Health Service was scored against several different criteria. These included how accessible its services are to young people, how effective staff are at raising awareness of the services and explaining the extent of confidentiality, the level of staff training, their skills and their values and the quality of the service’s physical environment.

Joanne Wilson, from the Contraception and Sexual Health Service, said the trust felt it was important to gain its users’ input to improve the quality of care.

She said: “Many young people need to use our services and so, in order to properly engage with them, it’s important to involve them every step of the way.

“This means not only in decisions about their health but also gaining their input into how the services can be continually improved.”

She added: “As part of this process, a young person recently inspected our services and rated them excellent. She also gave us some small recommendations for improving the service, which we are now implementing. “It goes without saying that the award is a real credit to the entire team and we hope teenagers feel reassured that their best interests lie at the heart of everything we do.”

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust provides community health services, mental health, learning disability, addictions, community brain injury, community dental, and some primary care services, across Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole. Community health services encompass district nurses, health visitors, school nursing, end of life care, sexual health promotion, safeguarding children, diabetes education, audiology, speech and language therapy, dermatology, podiatry, orthopaedic, prison health care, breastfeeding support services and the running of Dorset’s 11 community hospitals.