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Vasectomy Referral

The Solent Sexual Health Service is the single provider of vasectomies for all men in Hampshire (excluding Isle of Wight), Portsmouth and Southampton cities.

Isle of Wight vasectomy service is provided by MSI UK Reproductive Choices. Please visit their website for information and referral details.

Solent Sexual Health Vasectomy Service is based at St Mary's Community Health Campus in Portsmouth however the service operates out of a variety of different sites across Hampshire, both sexual health clinics and GP practices. 

PLEASE NOTE: our vasectomy surgeons ONLY perform vasectomy operations, in the community under local anaesthetic. If your patient requires a vasectomy along with another urological procedure, they must be referred to your local urology department, and not us.

Referrals

All patients must be referred by their GP (no self referrals are accepted)

To refer a patient:

  • GPs must refer using the NHS E-referrals system using the following criteria: 

    a)    Select Urology (specialty) and Vasectomy (clinic type).

    b)    Click “search primary care”

    The services we have on are as follows:

    Solent Vasectomy Service - Solent NHS Trust - R1C

    Southampton Vasectomy Service – various sites - Solent NHS Trust - R1C

    Hampshire Vasectomy Service – various sites - Solent NHS Trust - R1C

    c)    Select one of these services (NB you may not get all options showing – you will only get the ones displaying in your CCG area).

  • Book your patient a telephone consultation appointment
    • Please ensure that the patient is aware that this is a telephone call (not a face to face appointment) with one of our specially trained HCA’s who can answer any specific questions regarding our vasectomy process.
      • they must NOT be driving at the time of this appointment
      • our telephone number usually appears as the following number: 023 810 32800.
      • they must answer their phone at their appointment time otherwise they will miss their appointment.
    • We must have the patient’s correct telephone numbers mobile (preferably) and home
  • A supporting letter or completed referral proforma must be uploaded within 3 days of the NHS e-referral to avoid delays in patient care.

Online Questionnaire

Following receipt of completed referral (including letter / completed referral proforma), all patients will be sent their login details to enable them to complete an online questionnaire before their telephone consultation.

  • If they are unable to complete this themselves, we can arrange for an HCA to assist them.

Telephone Consultation

At the time of their telephone consultation, all patients will be booked for their vasectomy operation. They can choose to have their vasectomy operation done in any one of our sites.

After the operation

All patients will need to provide at least one semen sample, at least 16 weeks after their operation, to confirm that the operation has been successful.

  • They produce the semen sample in the comfort of their own home and submit the sample via the post.
  • Men will be informed of the result of their semen sample within 4 weeks of the sample date.

Please note:

  • Once the patient has been referred, it is our expectation that all patients will undergo their vasectomy operation within 18 weeks from referral.  Patients are expected to make themselves available for their appointments within the 18 week time frame.  
  • If a patient fails to attend any appointment without prior notification, they will be contacted and a offered the option to book another appointment.  Cancellation of this appointment will result in the patient being given 3 weeks in which to contact our service to make another appointment after which time. If they fail to make contact within this time, we will remove them from our waiting list and they will have to return to you to be referred again.
  • Due to waiting time standards, we can only usually allow patients to cancel and rebook on two operation appointments. Late cancellations (within 48 hours) often mean a wasted NHS appointment as the slot cannot be refilled.  If the you are repeatedly unable to attend that new appointment, we recommend that you discuss your decision and readiness for surgery with their GP and may be discharged from our waiting list.  If you are discharged you will need to return to your GP to be referred again.
  • Cancellations within 24 hours of their operation appointment will be classed as a “failure to attend” as above.
  • Any patient requiring a vasectomy under a General anaesthetic must be referred via this service. We will refer onwards if necessary. Please highlight the need for a general anaesthetic in your referral. 
  • Diabetic patients: please try and optimise glycaemic control before referral: the HbA1c ideally should be less than 69mmol/mol (8.5%) if it is possible and safe to do so. This may help to reduce the rate of infection post operatively.
  • If you are unable to refer through NHS E-referrals then you can email the referral to SNHS.VasectomyReferrals@nhs.net. Please ensure that referrals are sent as separate file attachments. 

 

Once the completed assessment has been reviewed, patients will have their operation appointment booked at the location of their choice.  

Patient leaflets  

 

 Please note: All patients will be required to sign a consent form after speaking to their surgeon on the day, prior to the procedure.  It is here for information only.

 

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