i-Base

Finding a clinic in the UK

5 October 2024. Related: HIV positive people, Resources.

Choosing a clinic

It you are treated in the UK, you have a choice for where you go for your HIV care. This could be close to where you live or work, or in a different town or city.

  • If you live in London or another large town, then you are likely to have a choice of several clinics. In London, for example, there are at least 12 large clinics and as many smaller ones. Several other large cities and towns have more than one specialist HIV clinic.
  • You can visit a clinic before you register to use their services.
  • Usually, larger clinics are linked to more specialist services. Larger clinics have more experience treating HIV and more doctors. But you can still get excellent care at smaller clinics and care can be variable at larger hospitals.
  • This NHS service finder lets you search for HIV clinics by region or postcode. Direct link.
  • The BASHH website links to similar pages to search for sexual health clinicsin each country in the UK.

Things to think about before choosing a clinic

Clinic location

  • Is it important to be close to home, or to work?
  • Do you prefer a clinic that is further away because it feels more anonymous?
  • Is is easy to get to by public transport?

Clinic size and experience

  • Does the clinic have a choice of doctors? This might be important if you are a woman and prefer a female doctor, or if you are a gay man and prefer a gay doctor.
  • HIV complications and another illnesses might involve seeing a specialist at a larger clinic.
  • If you are stable on treatment, you may prefer a closer clinic so your monitoring is easier.
  • Once your viral load is undetectable, you might only need to visit your clinic every 6 to 12 months.

Can you see the same doctor?

  • It is difficult to develop a relationship with your doctor if you see a different person at each visit.
  • Ask the clinic for a named doctor who you can book appointments with for each visit. If your clinic does not offer this, you may want to choose a different clinic.
  • However, there are also advantages from sometimes seeing different doctors. Having a second opinion about your care can be helpful. Other doctors may have suggestions that your routine doctor may not have considered.

Can I change clinics?

In the UK you have the right to change your doctor or treatment centre.

  • You do not have to give a reason for changing doctors or clinics. Sometimes though this can help resolve a problem if there has been a misunderstanding.
  • If you have generally been happy at your clinic, it may be better to resolve a problem than to have the disruption of changing clinics. Also, a new clinic may have the same problems as your old centre.
  • If you decide to change clinics, it is your right to have all test results and a summary of your treatment history forwarded to your new doctor or treatment centre. As well as asking for your old clinic to do this, it is worth asking for your own copy of a summary of your notes. This is so you can also take these with you.

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