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kaberettSo I was proper impressed by cliniQ when I swung by this evening as a walk-in patient after a sexual health screening. Actually finding the clinic was a bit confusing - the numbering on Dean Street didn't make a great deal of sense to me and I was initially directed to the first floor where I had a rather confusing conversation with a receptionist before making it to the second floor - but once I was there they were great. I was seen quickly - I think I was in and out inside half an hour - and people were calming and lovely and really just brilliant, and there was step-free access throughout.
On arrival (with Queen playing in the background, heh) I was handed two forms to fill out. One was information relating to my contact details etc so that the NHS charges would go through properly, as I recall, and the other dealt with Why I Was There Then (including a question about whether I had any symptoms and what I was after). It included a question about gender (male, female, other) and a question about my pronouns (examples listed included "they"). Also included: questions about whether it was okay for my name to be called in the waiting room when it was time for someone to see me, or whether I'd need somebody to come up to me; and questions about accessibility needs and whether I needed to e.g. avoid stairs.
Within five minutes of handing the forms back in (during which time I picked up an AIDS-awareness ribbon from the bowl left on the table; not enough time to help myself to the free tea or coffee!) a volunteer greeter collected me and took me through to one of the consultation rooms. He sat me down and explained the process - that he was a volunteer, that he himself was trans (he volunteered this straight away!), to explain to me the consent form and ask me which bits I was okay signing, and to tell me about the other services offered by cliniQ (which includes counselling, and short-term/one-off advocacy, help with writing letters, etc). He ran through the forms I'd filled out, told me I'd be seeing a nurse, assured me that the nurses were all thoroughly trained in trans stuff and took that training out into their more general practice, and let me know that he'd be handing me a card with my patient number on it - but that NHS systems would insist on assigning me as either M or F, and they'd scribble it out and write the appropriate marker on instead; he also (very tactfully and non-pushily!) checked whether I had any sexual health-related trauma that might be relevant that I wanted to disclose. He asked if I had any questions; I asked how I could get involved and volunteer. ;) Apparently they are actually looking to acquire more volunteers over the next few months, so they took my details, asked for permission to pass them on, and said the clinic manager would get in touch to arrange an interview!
I was escorted back to the waiting room, the volunteer rapidly handed my card (which as promised and apologised for had the Wrong marker crossed out and the correct one written in) and less than five minutes after that a nurse called my name and then introduced herself on the way through to another examination room. She very matter-of-factly double-checked the details I'd given her and talked me through a standard questionnaire - who I'd had sex with recently, what types of sex I'd been having, if any of the people I'd had sex with engaged in high-risk activities, whether I engaged in high-risk activities, whether I'd ever had an HIV test before and what the results were, and so on. She didn't blink when I said I was poly. She also very matter-of-factly asked me about my genital configuration, then told me what kind of tests were available, and checked which I wanted. She was brilliantly professional and very competent about the blood draw, and was very reassuring about the bit where the easiest way to perform the draw was for me to remove my shirt; I managed to be okay with that despite not binding today. I was then handed a swab to perform myself in private, and had pointed out to me the small cupboard where I was to leave the swab so she could collect it later. Before we parted ways she let me know that I could expect to have results by SMS in 7-10 days' time, and if I hadn't heard from them at that point it was cool for me to ring them up and ask.
It was really really good; I was, as I say, impressed (enough to want to give them some of my time); strongly strongly recommended if you're ever in London (you don't have to be a London resident) and they're relevant to you.
On arrival (with Queen playing in the background, heh) I was handed two forms to fill out. One was information relating to my contact details etc so that the NHS charges would go through properly, as I recall, and the other dealt with Why I Was There Then (including a question about whether I had any symptoms and what I was after). It included a question about gender (male, female, other) and a question about my pronouns (examples listed included "they"). Also included: questions about whether it was okay for my name to be called in the waiting room when it was time for someone to see me, or whether I'd need somebody to come up to me; and questions about accessibility needs and whether I needed to e.g. avoid stairs.
Within five minutes of handing the forms back in (during which time I picked up an AIDS-awareness ribbon from the bowl left on the table; not enough time to help myself to the free tea or coffee!) a volunteer greeter collected me and took me through to one of the consultation rooms. He sat me down and explained the process - that he was a volunteer, that he himself was trans (he volunteered this straight away!), to explain to me the consent form and ask me which bits I was okay signing, and to tell me about the other services offered by cliniQ (which includes counselling, and short-term/one-off advocacy, help with writing letters, etc). He ran through the forms I'd filled out, told me I'd be seeing a nurse, assured me that the nurses were all thoroughly trained in trans stuff and took that training out into their more general practice, and let me know that he'd be handing me a card with my patient number on it - but that NHS systems would insist on assigning me as either M or F, and they'd scribble it out and write the appropriate marker on instead; he also (very tactfully and non-pushily!) checked whether I had any sexual health-related trauma that might be relevant that I wanted to disclose. He asked if I had any questions; I asked how I could get involved and volunteer. ;) Apparently they are actually looking to acquire more volunteers over the next few months, so they took my details, asked for permission to pass them on, and said the clinic manager would get in touch to arrange an interview!
I was escorted back to the waiting room, the volunteer rapidly handed my card (which as promised and apologised for had the Wrong marker crossed out and the correct one written in) and less than five minutes after that a nurse called my name and then introduced herself on the way through to another examination room. She very matter-of-factly double-checked the details I'd given her and talked me through a standard questionnaire - who I'd had sex with recently, what types of sex I'd been having, if any of the people I'd had sex with engaged in high-risk activities, whether I engaged in high-risk activities, whether I'd ever had an HIV test before and what the results were, and so on. She didn't blink when I said I was poly. She also very matter-of-factly asked me about my genital configuration, then told me what kind of tests were available, and checked which I wanted. She was brilliantly professional and very competent about the blood draw, and was very reassuring about the bit where the easiest way to perform the draw was for me to remove my shirt; I managed to be okay with that despite not binding today. I was then handed a swab to perform myself in private, and had pointed out to me the small cupboard where I was to leave the swab so she could collect it later. Before we parted ways she let me know that I could expect to have results by SMS in 7-10 days' time, and if I hadn't heard from them at that point it was cool for me to ring them up and ask.
It was really really good; I was, as I say, impressed (enough to want to give them some of my time); strongly strongly recommended if you're ever in London (you don't have to be a London resident) and they're relevant to you.
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Date: 2014-10-09 12:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2014-10-09 05:52 am (UTC)I have used Dean Street clinic before - either before cliniQ started or before I'd heard of it - and was very impressed with them.
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Date: 2014-10-09 08:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2014-10-09 11:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-09 12:34 pm (UTC)I am afraid I had an absolutely shit time there, and I kind of want to add this anti-recommendation for balance, because my experience was even shittier because it took me off guard because I expected a safe space!
I was kept waiting in the waiting room for hours without any explanation of what the hold-up was; the reception staff seemed confused when I asked them about what gender marker I should be putting down (because my gender is neither M or F, but F would be most accurate in terms of AFAB-typical bodies and is consistent with my other NHS records, but I wanted to check whether putting F would mean they would be recording me as a trans woman and thus wanting to do things not consistent with my anatomy); the nurse was really inappropriately matey in a way that made my skin crawl and asked me "were you born a girl or a boy?"; there was AFAICT no means of giving anonymous feedback online and I have thus far not felt able to contact them from a non-anonymised email address or to set foot in that place again.
(The trans guy greeter was still great, though.)
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Date: 2014-10-09 05:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-09 10:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-10-09 11:45 pm (UTC)~K.