STI Testing

For male patients, we recommend avoiding passing urine for 1-2 hours before your appointment. This is to ensure that you are able to pass urine when you visit the clinic and that we can get a better quality sample.

For female patients, there is no specific action that you need to perform before your visit.

Yes. You can bring your partner, friend or family member to your appointment.

However, if you feel that you would rather not bring someone to the appointment, rest assured that our staff are here to support you and make you comfortable in any way possible. Clarewell Clinics is a safe space.

If we are able to better understand your particular situation, we can better prepare for your appointment and ensure that you are given a higher level of care.

Furthermore, it is our medical & legal responsibility to document the appointment. If you are able to help us in filling out key details then we are left with more time for discussion.

We will text/email you the questionnaire once you have booked in for your appointment. It can quite easily be filled out on your phone.

No. If any action is required at all, it will be our responsibility to contact you.

We don’t expect you to understand which tests are right for you. We will of course assess your risks and recommend the tests that you need. However, the choice will ultimately be yours.

Yes, absolutely! We will of course discuss this with you but the choice is entirely yours.

If we are able to provide the test you want, then absolutely. Please click here to see the full list of tests.

Of course! In fact, we recommend a physical examination as part of a routine examination as STIs can sometimes go unnoticed.

Of course. This option is available to you. However, we cannot guarantee that we will have a clinician of the same/different sex at a specific day/time of the week.

Of course. A chaperone is always available to you. You may also wish to bring your partner/friend/family member to your appointment. The option is entirely yours.

Depending on the screen you opt for, some (or all) of the following samples will be required. Where a sample can be taken by yourself or the clinician, the choice is yours.

• Urine: Yourself or Clinician
• Blood from vein: Clinician
• Throat swab: Yourself or Clinician
• Rectal swab: Yourself or Clinician
• Vaginal swab: Yourself or Clinician

Of course. As long as you are comfortable, this is absolutely fine. It will not affect the quality of the sample or the accuracy of your results.

Depending on the antibiotics you’re taking, the quality of the sample and thus the test results may be affected. This may also affect the quality of the advice that we are able to offer you.

As such, if you think you may have acquired an STI, it is essential to speak to a clinician before taking any medications.

All tests that we offer include a control test to ensure that the test has worked properly.

Furthermore, our tests which require a urine/vaginal swab have a Specimen Adequacy Control that checks to make sure that the sample received was of a high quality. If this control fails, then the test will not finish and a repeat sample may be needed.

You will get your results within 4 hours (from the end of your appointment). There are two exceptions to this:

• Mycoplasma genitalium: takes up to 4 working days
• Confirmation for HIV/Syphilis/Hepatitis B & C: takes up to 4 working days

You can receive your results by text or email (recommended).

In the event that your result for HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C is positive, we would communicate this over a phone call/in person.

Yes. Even if you attend our last appointment at 5:30pm (or 1:30pm on weekends), you will still receive results which are available on the same day.

Yes, of course. Please request this in your pre-appointment questionnaire and we will share this with you after your appointment.

If you are seeking to get a certificate for official purposes, then we may require your passport/driving license at the time of appointment.

Let’s divide this question into two:

• Accuracy: the tests that we offer are indeed accurate (approx. 99% for most tests we offer). In fact, we are not allowed to offer tests that have not passed certain national regulations.
• Conclusive: this depends on the infections that you are at risk of and the time that you get tested. We will discuss this in your appointment if you need any further tests and whether your results are conclusive or not.

We offer one follow-up call with every appointment. To request a follow-up call, please follow this link.

If your test has come back positive, we will ask you to come in to receive treatment. To learn about the relevant treatments, please follow the links below:

• Chlamydia treatment
• Gonorrhoea treatment
• Trichomonas vaginalis treatment
• Mycoplasma genitalium treatment
• Syphilis treatment
• HIV treatment
• Hepatitis B treatment
• Hepatitis C treatment

In the event that you have been in contact with someone with an STI, we may be able to offer you treatment in the same appointment. However, this depends on your clinician's judgment.

Otherwise, we will request you to wait for your test results before offering you treatment.

• Chlamydia (not routinely recommended): 4 weeks after starting treatment
• Gonorrhoea: 2 weeks after starting treatment
• Trichomonas vaginalis: 2 weeks after starting treatment
• Mycoplasma genitalium: 4 weeks after starting treatment
• Syphilis: this varies depending on the individual and exact timings will be advised by your clinician