You will see either a doctor or a nurse on the day of your appointment and have your blood tests on the same day.

You will receive the results of your tests in a way that you prefer – telephone call, letters by email or in the post, or a text. If you need any special arrangements to receive your results, then let us know and we can try and help you.

The types of care you will receive include:

• Annual HIV health checks – we will discuss and assess aspects of your physical and psychological health and take blood tests. This appointment takes up to 45 minutes.
• Sexual health screening – we offer all patients routine screening for sexually transmitted infections, and referrals to the sexual health clinic for patients who attend with symptoms
• Cervical screening for HPV infection
• Vaccinations for Hepatitis A and B, Gardasil (HPV), Mpox vaccine, and the 4CMENB gonorrhoea vaccine.

If you are happy taking your treatment and your treatment is working (the HIV viral load is undetectable) then you will only need to come to the clinic every 12 months.

More frequent appointments are needed when starting or switching to a new treatment, or if you have any other health problems that may affect your treatment and care.

Your medication is usually delivered to your home every six months or you can collect this from the clinic.

Your medication is re-ordered for you by our specialist pharmacist every 6 months. They may call you once a year to check if you have started any new medication in between your visits.

We do prefer you to have blood tests at least once a year to be sure it is working but may do this more frequently if we change treatment or you are having problems taking it every day.

Please make a note of how many tablets you have at home before coming to each appointment so we can plan the next prescription. If you realise you are running low and don’t have enough until you see your doctor, please contact the homecare delivery company on 0800 012 1551 or email patientservices@alcura-health.co.uk.

Alternatively, you can also call your clinic and ask to speak to our HIV specialist pharmacist.

We are usually able to see you very soon once you contact us, or once we are informed that you have tested positive for HIV.

A doctor or nurse will see you at your first appointment to take you through what you need to do, answer all your questions and help you to understand what living with HIV involves.

You will need longer appointments at the beginning of your care, so we can examine you and take bloods and explain how HIV affects the immune system and how treatment can help.

We will arrange to see you more regularly also, so you have plenty of time to talk through all your questions and worries and get as much advice as you want while you are adjusting to living with a diagnosis of HIV. You will be given a number to call or text (Monday – Friday) if you need to speak or text us afterwards in between appointments.

When you are ready you will be able to start treatment and we will then see you regularly in the first year so you can be monitored to check the treatment is working, and you are not experiencing any problems taking your HIV medication.

We will also have a peer support service soon that involves volunteers living with HIV who have been trained to support others newly diagnosed which can be very helpful.

We would recommend your GP is informed you are living with HIV as they can help prescribe treatments that you may need like an annual flu vaccine.

Importantly medication that your GP may want to give you could interact with your HIV treatment and this may stop your treatment from working properly.

We would only inform your GP if you give us your permission to do so.

If you would like to transfer your care to our services please call 0300 373 0709 to make an appointment.

Alternatively, you can email mtw-tr.rubinclinic@nhs.net and one of our team will call you.

Please bring in any information from your previous clinic and check how much medication you have as this will help our team to get you booked in and make sure there are no gaps in your care.

If you are returning to care, please feel free to call and speak to one of the reception team to make an appointment.

We understand that there are lots of reasons why people might not currently be receiving HIV care, and you are welcome to contact us to discuss how we can help support you back into care.

We will always support you and are ready to help you whenever you need this.

You can contact us on 0300 373 0709 or email mtw-tr.rubinclinic@nhs.net.