Social Services St Bartholomews Hospital

I had a nice little trip out today. To my local GUM clinic. You might wonder why on earth am I publicising this fact, but it’s for the very reason that a ridiculous stigma is attached to doing something like this (when they really, really shouldn’t be) that I would like you to know all about it. Then maybe you wont be so scared about going too.
In no way shape or form did I think I might have anything, but I’m starting my 2009 Spring clean early this year and I’m not leaving any stone unturned! So off I went to St. Barts after my flatmates told me all about their great drop in service for both men and women. You can call in every week day, but I’d recommend going for 9am so you will be in the first group to be seen. You can book an appointment if you need to, and on two days a week they’re open until 8pm. Oh and an extra tip, when you arrive, go in the courtyard entrance and turn left immediately and look out for the ramp and the blue doors.
All I had to do was take a ticket at reception, fill out a one sided A4 form and wait reading gossip mags until my name was called out. You then go upstairs to the separated male/​female waiting rooms and wait to see the doctor. Mine was a very young man, that I did feel a bit apprehensive about (he had that fresh-​out-​of-​med-​school cheeky boy air about him), but he was very professional and we actually had a bit of a giggle as he asked me the mandatory questions (think Samantha in Sex in the City). But, girls If you really don’t want a male doctor then let the receptionist know as soon as you get there and they’ll do their best to find you a female one.
The actual check up was fine, the nurse was chatting away whilst I was sat on my er, shall we call it ‘dentist chair’, so I felt like I was at the hairdressers rather than a GUM clinic! I got some results straight away and the rest will be in a few days, which they will txt very informally to my mobile. The whole visit took about two hours, which really isn’t bad for a drop in service and the clinic is very clean with a whole range of people visiting so I didn’t feel like I was going to catch something by just being there either.
See, not so bad at all. You should really have routine check-​ups like this as STD’s are rocketing in the U. K and it’s not just a certain ‘type’ of person who gets them. Many have no side effects until it’s too late (some can leave both men and women infertile) so why not look out for your own sexual health and make sure you’re squeaky clean, it’s simply good 21^st Century manners.