Dr Ruth Beesley of Boroughbury Medical Centre and Dr Rebecca McKay at Peterborough City Hospital have provided vital support in establishing safe , non-judgmental spaces for women to access services .
I would love to see this work emulated nationally . If I could give one piece of advice it would be that this work cannot be done in isolation .
the women at risk of developing cervical cancer felt able to access necessary colposcopy services at local hospitals . Through the screenings we run at Wildflowers , we identified eight women at risk , but quickly realised that each of them faced significant barriers to accessing and engaging with support . Some of them have experienced traumatic and stigmatising interactions with professionals in the past , while others didn ’ t have stable accommodation where they could receive appointment information .
Many of the women have also experienced extreme sexual trauma – childhood sexual abuse , domestic violence , and rape . The result of this is they tend to feel huge amounts of shame and distress when requiring examination . They also find trust extremely difficult , especially when feeling vulnerable and scared .
DEDICATED CLINIC Following discussions with UKHSA and North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust , we ’ ve been able to establish a dedicated colposcopy clinic at Stamford and Rutland Hospital for vulnerable women . The idea was for us to collect the women in our outreach van and bring them directly to the clinic , where they could be better supported to engage .
Further to this , we ’ ve arranged to work with the lab at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital to ensure smear tests taken as part of Wildflower clinic sessions are picked up by the new colposcopy clinic – an important step in ensuring the women receive efficient , streamlined care . To help us break down barriers and ensure the women feel safe to engage , the clinic is female-led , trauma informed , and encourages peer support among the women themselves .
The women who attended the clinic on the day were understandably anxious and needed a lot of encouragement . I was able to sit with the women throughout the procedure , and they were treated with the utmost care , compassion , and respect by Dr Rebecca McKay and her team .
The bravery and sense of achievement of the women was evident . Unfortunately , not all of the women we had identified were able to attend , but the respect and dignity shown to those who did attend has encouraged their peers to take part in the future . We ’ re now preparing for our third clinic next month .
When people try and tell me women who sell sex have a choice , I tell them they don ’ t always have a choice . Not one of the women we work with thought they would ever end up in the situation they find themselves in – life ’ s circumstances have brought them there . People don ’ t know what ’ s happened to the women along the way , and the role of EWE is to advocate on their behalf and to make sure they have access to the support they deserve – Wildflowers and now the colposcopy clinic both have a huge role to play in breaking down barriers and making sure this vision becomes a reality .
PARTNERSHIP PROJECT The project has evolved and saves lives , and this would not have been possible without the support of the Peterborough public health commissioning team , or without the funding for my role from the Terrence Higgins Trust .
I would love to see this work emulated nationally . If I could give one piece of advice it would be that this work cannot be done in isolation – effective partnership working is the key . The possibilities are endless when we work together .
If you ’ d like to find out more about the work of the EWE project , please get in touch : lucille . weir @ cgl . org . uk
Luci Weir leads EWE ( Empowering Women Everywhere ) at Change Grow Live ’ s Aspire Recovery Service in Peterborough
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