WHAT IS “YOU’RE WELCOME”?

You’re Welcome (YW) is a Department of Health (DH) initiative to improve the quality of adolescent healthcare.1 It is endorsed and supported by a number of key professional bodies.2 3 The first edition of YW was produced in 2005, revised and piloted in 2007; a national support programme began in September 2008. The latest version with a self-assessment toolkit is available on the DH website.4 YW addresses the need for services to be friendly to young people (YP) who are under the age of 20, providing holistic care and “joined up working” at a local service level.

Evidence-based criteria lay out key principles applicable to all health services, both in the community and in acute hospital settings. Criteria include the acceptability, accessibility, quality and choice of services for YP. These have the potential to contribute to the national indicator set and vital signs for local priorities in PCTs,5 which include achieving the target for teenage pregnancy under-18 conception6 and ensuring good-quality services and best practice.

WHAT DOES “YOU’RE WELCOME” MEAN FOR SEXUAL-HEALTH SERVICES?

The concept of setting standards for YP sexual-health services is not new. Genitourinary medicine (GUM) services recognise that YP with or at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) often have other high-risk behaviours and vulnerability factors when compared with their non-infected peers and, additionally, have …