"Out of Hours Care for Acute STI Infection"

For the first time in my life I contracted an STI. It became clear it was an STI during Friday night, after my GP had closed and all sexual health services had shut for the weekend. The painful and nauseating symptoms I was experiencing were awful, and getting worse, so I phoned NHS 24 and was referred by them to the local hospital.

At the local hospital the triage nurse I saw flatly said that they don't treat this. I protested that it was an acute infection the same as any other, and that moreover it was pretty obvious I had Chlamydia or Gonorrhea  based on symptoms and a basic differential diagnosis. I further pointed out that both of these are easily treatable in one go using the second-line treatment for Gonorrhea (a single dose of two common antibiotics prescribed at once - together they treat Gonorrhea, and one of them also treats Chlamydia). The nurse first tried to look up opening hours for local sexual health services, agreed there weren't any until Monday, and finally said I could wait and see the doctor.

Not wanting to spend the entire weekend in increasing pain and discomfort, I waited. Three hours later a doctor saw me. First they said they wouldn't treat me due to the problem being non-urgent, then they offered to inspect me for visual signs of issues. Despite having testicles swollen to twice their normal size and a host of other painful and sickly symptoms, the doctor said my penis didn't look badly inflamed, so they definitely wouldn't do anything, and that they could give me the phone numbers to call on Monday. I felt I was promptly and coldly dismissed.

The thing is, four weeks prior to that I was referred to the same hospital's A&E department by NHS 24 for out of hours treatment for an ear infection, for which I was prescribed antibiotics. There was no issue with supposed urgency then, and I was in far less pain and discomfort.

I feel humiliated, worthless, and like my healthcare needs have been discriminated against simply because of where I was unfortunate enough to get the infection. The really annoying thing is I don't sleep around - this was the fault of the person who gave it to me. 

It's outrageous that there's no provision for the treatment of genital illnesses in Lanarkshire and Glasgow on weekends, and doubly outrageous that out of hours doctors are able to discriminate in this way when the differential diagnosis for common infections is not complicated. I feel it's not necessary to have a confirmed test result - doctors can attempt treatment on the balance of probabilities, which are really easily established for acute infections. It's done all the time for infections of the respiratory system.

When I got home I sat and had a long think. I could either wait until Monday, where I'd be tested and then not have results for a few days, suffering for the while, or I could use an online pharmacy to purchase the combination antibiotic treatment I needed and have it delivered. I ultimately swallowed my principles and ordered the medication at a cost of £50. It won't arrive until Monday, but at least I'll be able to begin treatment then.

In conclusion, I feel the stigma against sexual health appears baked into the approaches to healthcare in Scotland, and I've never been more disappointed in our NHS.

Staff attitude

Treatment