Hope House: Sexual Health Services
Hope House is the Sexual Health Service for Gloucestershire. Our main clinics are based at Hope House in Gloucester and The Milsom Centre in Cheltenham. Services are free and available to anybody who needs them.
We're proud to be supporting the LGBTQ+ community
Quick help
I have been raped
Help from our Sexual Assault Referral Centre
I may have an STI
Information and help for sexually transmitted diseases
I am pregnant and don't know what to do
Help from our pregnancy advisory service
Help & advice on contraception
Our contraception service and info
I need help & advice about HIV
View our HIV page
Mpox
Information and the latest guidance
Welcome to Hope House
Hope House provides sexual health services that support healthy relationships and sexual wellbeing across Gloucestershire.
Our sexual health and contraception services are confidential – even for those aged under 16 years old. No-one can access our patient records apart from staff working in our clinics.
Don’t walk in – phone in
We operate a telephone triage system to help ensure people get directed to the right point of care for their needs.
You can contact the triage line on 0300 421 6500, Monday to Friday, 8am-4pm.
Do you have an urgent concern?
Our receptionist will ask you a few questions about why you need to attend. These questions can be quite personal but this is so we can ensure you are booked into the right service.
If you have an urgent issue the receptionist will pass your details onto one of our specialist sexual health nurses and they will call you back to discuss your problem.
Routine appointments
If you need contraception or want to discuss a sexual health issue and do not need to be seen in the next 24 hours, our receptionist can book you into a routine appointment.
sexual health clinic appointments last year
nurses telephone triage calls last year
Our Services
Gloucestershire Sexual Health offers free, friendly, non-judgemental, confidential testing, treatment and advice for sexually transmitted infections, as well as a wide range of contraception options including emergency contraception, contraceptive pills, implants, injections, patches, coils, and condoms.
Our Services
STI Service
STI Home testing kit
Contraception Service
Pregnancy Advisory Service
HIV Help
psychosexual service
Sexual Assault Referral Centre
Book an Appointment
About us
Important information about our service.
Confidentiality
Confidentially in sexual health clinics is covered by law, which is why we also ask younger people some extra questions.
What you tell us is only accessible within our service and your identity is given a special individual number linked to your date of birth. This means that even those who work on your tests at the laboratory will not know who you are.
Our confidentiality covers everyone who comes to our clinics regardless of age, sex, cultural background or sexual orientation.
Everyone has the right to confidentiality, although we have a duty to talk to another professional if we are concerned about someone who is at risk of harm from another person, or from themselves.
If you are under 18 we will ask you some extra questions to show we have checked you understand why you have come and what that will involve, and that you are not at risk from any harm.
If for any reason we feel we need to talk to a professional, outside of our service, we will normally ask your permission and it will be discussed with you first. It is very unusual to do this without someone’s permission.
More information about our general privacy policy and your rights can be found here.
Information about services for people under 18
Under 18s
We are happy to see any one aged 13 years and above, wishing to discuss their sexual health.
We want to make sure that anyone having a sexual relationship is safe. To help ensure this, you will be asked several questions about your sex life and other aspects of your life when you come to clinic. This is not to be nosy, but helps make it possible for us to offer you the best care possible.
The clinician that you see will not normally discuss any part of your visit with anyone outside of the clinic.
Rarely, if we discover information that makes us concerned about your safety, or that of somebody else, we may need to share the concern with other professionals. Only essential information would be shared, and only when necessary.
Having a chaperone
Having someone with you when you visit our service
A chaperone is a specially-trained member of staff who may be present during your appointment to offer additional support and reassurance to yourself and the clinician.
A chaperone is offered during any intimate examination, and may be requested at other times by yourself or the clinician. Their presence will be discussed with you first, and your confidentiality, respect and dignity will be maintained.
Having an interpreter
If English is not your first language we can arrange for someone to interpret the consultation for you.
- If you are attending a pre-booked appointment we can arrange to have an interpreter present, either on the telephone or in person with you. Please ask for this when booking your appointment.
- If you have to cancel or change an appointment please let us know as soon as possible. This will enable us to cancel the interpreter and avoid the service being charged a fee.
- If you are deaf or hard of hearing and need a BSL interpreter, please inform us of this when booking your appointment, or as soon as you know you need to attend one of our services. This advanced notice will enable us to arrange the support you need.
Our staff
During your visit with us you may see the following people:
Reception and Administration Team
We have a wonderful team of administrators and receptionists who support our services and are essential in keeping our clinics running.
When you telephone us or attend clinic you will normally speak to or meet a receptionist first. Our clinics can be very busy, especially in the mornings, so please be patient with the receptionists and they will help you access our service.
Doctors and nurses
We have several specialist nurses and doctors in our service who are able to manage a range of clinical issues, depending on their training and experience.
We always aim to manage all your concerns in one visit, but sometimes it is necessary for you to come back to see a different clinician who is able to treat your specific need. If you have a more complex problem you may need to be seen by a consultant, who is a senior doctor.
Health Care Assistants
Our health care assistants offer a range of services in the clinic. You will mainly see them for an STI test if you have no symptoms. They also help the doctors and nurses in the running of the clinics.
Sexual Health Advisers
Our health advisers offer a range of services, such as seeing patients for partner notification if they have an STI, providing results to patients, supporting patients with positive STI results or worries about STIs, supporting vulnerable patients and health promotion.
Feedback
Your views and suggestions are important – they help us to improve the services we provide. We would like you to tell us about your experiences, so we can continue to make life better for people who use our services.
If you would like to provide feedback you can do so via the button below, by completing our feedback survey, or contacting our Patient and Carer Experience Team.
Feedback survey
We also have a feedback survey specifically for our Sexual Health Services. Listening to your views helps us to identify what is working well and what can be improved. If you have visited us we may send you a text message to our survey.
You can also access the survey here.
Patient and Carer Experience Team
You can also contact our Patient and Carer Experience Team, who deal with all comments, concerns, complaints and compliments into the Trust. The team also incorporates the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).
Whether you have a compliment, comment, concern or complaint, we are here to help you. Everyone likes to receive praise and we hope you will tell us when you receive a good service from us. We always make sure these comments are passed on to the members of staff who are praised and to the Trust Board.
We understand that raising a concern can be difficult, but if you are unhappy about any aspect of the service please talk to us. We are committed to resolving all concerns we receive. If your issues remain unresolved, or you would like to make a formal complaint, we can advise you on the complaints process and provide information on how to seek independent advice.
You can contact the patient experience team here.
Important Questions
My partner has told me that they have a sexually transmitted infection and may have passed it to me. What do I do?
Partner notification is really important as many people with a sexually transmitted infection do not have symptoms. Please contact our triage line on 0300 421 6500 to speak to one of our nurses. We can book you can appointment in clinic and offer tests and treatment if required.
I need emergency contraception but you are closed what do I do?
If you need emergency contraception outside of our opening hours please contact your local pharmacy.
I am worried I might have been exposed to HIV what do I do?
A health care professional can assess your risk of HIV transmission and if necessary you will be offered Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Following Sexual Exposure (PEPSE). This is a course of medication to prevent HIV transmission and is taken for 28 days. It is recommended that you start taking PEPSE as soon as possible after exposure, preferably within 24 hours of exposure but can be offered up to 72 hours. If you think you need PEPSE you can call us Monday to Friday 8am-5pm. Out of hours such as evenings, bank holidays and weekends to should go straight to A&E. Sooner the better as more effective!
