Releasing capacity in sexual health through modernization.

Increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), coupled with a lack of investment, have placed mounting pressure on sexual health services. To address these growing demands and meet new Government targets for access, the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) and other UK bodies are keen to promote modernization and innovation within the service. The 'Six Sigma' study group was formed in 2003 to investigate whether capacity within genitourinary (GU) medicine clinics could be enhanced by further reducing the follow-up to new-case patient visit ratio. A process improvement methodology, Six Sigma, was employed to achieve these aims. The clinics within the Six Sigma group demonstrated a significant reduction in the follow-up to new-case ratio, so releasing a considerable amount of additional capacity. Importantly, this group developed the tools for other GU medicine clinics to achieve similar results and benefit from their considerable expertise.