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Sexual health and contraception service (SHAC)

We offer a range of services to support your sexual health and wellbeing, including full screening, STI prevention methods, contraception (including long acting contraception), management of longer term conditions and support.

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Who is this service for? 

This is a free service, available to anyone over the age of 13. 

Where are appointments available?  

Our booked appointments are available at SHAC East, walk in appointments are available at SHAC Central. We also have appointments for people under 25 at SHAC West.

When are they available? 

Booked sexual health and contraception appointments are available every day of the week apart from Sunday. Walk in appointments are available on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at SHAC Central. We also offer limited walk in appointments at some of our specialist clinics.

Information:

Please note that all our services are closed on public bank holidays

What we offer at our sexual health and contraception appointments

Booked appointments 

We offer a full range of sexual health screening and treatment, STI prevention and HIV testing and prevention (including PrEP), and signposting for support around your sexual wellbeing.  

We are able to discuss your contraception options and provide all the different methods. For longer acting contraception (implants and coils) you will be booked into one of our procedure clinics to make sure you see the most appropriate trained member of staff.   

If you don’t have any symptoms and just want a check up you can order a home testing kit. 

Walk in appointments

We are able to offer many of the same services at walk in appointments as we do in our booked appointments. More complex procedures do need a booked appointment.

How do I book an appointment?

There are options for booking an appointment based on what you need, see our information on how to book an appointment .If you can’t find what you’re looking for call us on 01273 523 388. Some of our appointments are also available to book online.

Other frequently asked questions (FAQs) about sexual health and contraception appointments 

You will be seen by a clinician who will ask you some questions to find out what you need and which tests you may require. We can sometimes give a diagnosis and treatment on the day, or we may need to send some tests away and wait for results. We will talk to you about how to protect yourself from STIs or pregnancy in future, and may offer some treatments (medications, vaccinations or condoms) to help protect you. We advise you allow at least an hour for your appointment.   

You may bring someone to support you to your appointment, but we will usually see you alone first, so you have the opportunity to talk about anything confidential. Your supporter is welcome to be present for any procedures. You can also ask for a trained chaperone to be present at any point. For some procedures we may have an additional member of staff to assist, but we will still try to accommodate your friend or partner in the room. 

We are a teaching hospital and there will often be students on placement in the clinic. If you would prefer not to be seen with a student, please let reception staff know when you attend.