An STI check-up at a GUM clinic

• You can go to your GP if you think you have an STI, but if you'd rather your GP didn't know you can go straight to a GUM clinic without a referral from your GP. These clinics are legally obliged to treat your tests and results confidentially. You can even give a false name – the perfect opportunity to be Tom Cruise for a day.
• You can attend even if you are below the legal age of consent, which is 16.
• You can be tested and treated for all STIs.
• And you don't necessarily have to use a clinic near to home.

What they offer

Most clinics have health advisors or counsellors to advise you on sexual health choices, the implications of HIV testing and how to deal with the results, and on confidential and anonymous ways of telling your sexual partner(s) that they may have an STI and so need a check-up. Contact tracing of previous partners may go back as far as six months, depending on your diagnosis, but you don't have to provide any details unless you want to.

What can you expect?

• Be prepared to be asked direct and what may feel like embarrassing questions about your sexual history and practice.
• A doctor will examine you physically to check for signs of infection.
• A blood sample will be taken as part of routine testing for syphilis.
• HIV will not be tested for without your consent.
• A swab will be taken from your throat, from your urethra (the tube inside your penis) and from your bottom.
• You will also be asked for a urine sample (so you may be requested not to go to the toilet for several hours beforehand).
• Results for some tests may be available before you leave, others you'll need to phone in for.