OVER 1000 men sought advice from the sexual health clinic at Dunfermline’s Queen Margaret Hospital in just nine months, new figures have revealed.

It marks a 21 per cent rise from the previous year’s statistics, which NHS Fife are attributing to the opening of a dedicated space at the hospital.

The clinic was introduced through a partnership between Sexual Health Fife and the Terence Higgins Trust and offers a male-only service.

The move to an enhanced space at the Queen Margaret means there are now five consulting rooms, a counselling room, a triage room and a bigger waiting area, compared to the three rooms that were available at the Carnegie clinic.

NHS Fife clinical services manager, Heather Bett, said, “There has been a demonstrable increase in the number of men in West Fife seeking sexual advice.

“The male-only clinic has proven to be very successful, it is well documented that men can be reluctant to access sexual health services due the perceived stigma around the issue.

“The opportunity to move allows us to make more practicioners available, meaning that more appointments can now be offered. All of these factors have contributed to the increase in attendances amongst men.” The relocation of the sexual clinics is one element of a wider effort by the health authority to modernise healthcare provision in Fife.

Queen Margaret development lead, Margaret Henderson, said, “Over the coming months, a number of further services will move from the Carnegie clinic to enhanced facilities at Queen Margaret Hospital.

“The establishment of a primary care resource centre will enable staff from a variety of fields like dietetics, child and adolescent mental health, podiatry and psychology to work more closely together, providing services as locally as possible to our patients.”