Sexual health services are increasingly being commissioned by less senior staff without specialist expertise, the Terrence Higgins Trust has warned.

The trend is highlighted in the trust's fifth annual survey of primarycare trusts and sexual health clinicians.

It also reported that just under two-thirds of primary care trusts saidall or part of their Choosing Health money for public health had beendiverted away from sexual health services. And despite sexual healthbecoming a national health priority for the NHS last year, almost halfof primary care trusts had not assessed local sexual health needs for atleast three years.

The report has led to renewed calls by the trust, the Royal College ofNursing and the NHS Confederation for public health funds to beprotected by ringfencing, a move opposed by the Department ofHealth.

Lisa Power, the trust's head of policy, said: "Ringfencing is notpolitically popular but it would seem to be the only way to ensure thatthe money for sexual health services is not diverted elsewhere."

- www.tht.org.uk.