The Somerset Wide Integrated Sexual Health (SWISH) service provides sexual health and contraceptive support around the county. Within SWISH we have a ‘Targeted Outreach’ team who travel the county and make our services more accessible to at risk groups, such as those experiencing child exploitation.
Our young people’s nurse Marina says: ‘I’ve been a Young Person’s Nurse for SWISH for 8yrs now and still really enjoy meeting our Young People of Somerset.
Our young people are subjected to conflicting messages and expectations around sexual relationships. So, our main aim is to keep our Young People safe, by promoting healthy relationships and providing contraception and STI testing / treatment.
At SWISH we offer a longer appointment time and a safe space for young people to talk and explore their relationships. As we are aware an unhealthy relationship usually sounds like a healthy relationship at the start but can quickly change. By exploring relationships and having a good rapport with our young people we hope our young people can return to SWISH if they have any concerns.
As a health professional it is vital to recognise any possible signs of child exploitation, so we are all trained at SWISH to spot the signs of child exploitation and help young people who are being exploited by working with the young person and other professionals in order to safeguard them. Part of my role within SWISH is identifying young people who are at risk of exploitation working in partnership with the young person / parents / carers and other professionals. This may involve attending their home or school, highlighting the same healthy messages from carers / professionals. Or joint working helping the young person to access SWISH services at a clinic within
