HIV clinics

It is very important that you go for regular check-ups at a specialist HIV clinic.

HIV care is provided through outpatient clinics. This means that you do not receive your treatment while staying in hospital, but visit a specialist clinic at regular intervals so that your health can be monitored, treatments prescribed and, if you need them, referrals made for you to see other specialists.

Many HIV clinics are attached to a GUM clinic, and there’s a good chance that you may be receiving your HIV care from the HIV clinic associated with the GUM clinic where you were diagnosed with HIV.

Unlike any other specialism within the NHS, GUM and HIV clinics operate an open access policy. This means you don’t need your GP to refer you. All you have to do is phone up and make an appointment. You can choose which HIV treatment centre you receive your care from. You do not have to attend the clinic at the hospital you were diagnosed at or the one closest to your home. If you wish, you can use the HIV treatment centre in a different city. If you decide to change clinics, it’s very important to ensure that your medical notes are forwarded from your old clinic to your new one.

If you are entitled to free NHS care, then all the treatment you receive from your HIV clinic will be free. Even if you normally have to pay for prescriptions, nearly all medicines prescribed by a specialist HIV doctor will be free.

Opening times vary between clinics. You can expect the very large clinics to be open and to offer appointments with doctors and other health professionals every working day. By contrast, smaller clinics might only be open a few mornings or afternoons a week.

All clinics will have arrangements for providing emergency care. The large HIV clinics will have an HIV doctor who is on call 24 hours a day for an emergency, while at smaller hospitals emergency cover might be provided by a general medicine doctor.

The factors influencing choice of clinic differ from person to person. Some might prefer to attend a clinic that is large, or with a reputation for expertise in a particular area. Others opt to attend smaller clinics that are more accessible and convenient.

Your HIV clinic will also have facilities to treat inpatients (treatment while staying in hospital). Large clinics are likely to have a dedicated HIV ward with doctors and nurses who only treat HIV-positive patients. If you attend a smaller clinic, then inpatient care is likely to be provided on a general medical or infectious diseases ward.

Staff on specialist inpatient wards may well have more insight into the medical and psychological issues faced by people with HIV, and will be skilled in recognising and treating both the common and less common illnesses and complications seen in people with HIV. Other staff at hospitals that have a large HIV clinic, such as pharmacists, dieticians, radiologists and physiotherapists will also have extensive experience of treating HIV-positive patients.

If you are admitted to hospital for a reason unconnected to HIV, it’s very important to let the doctors and nurses looking after you know that you are HIV-positive, to ensure that you receive the right treatment.