"Very supportive staff at sexual health clinic"

I went to the sexual health clinic because I felt like my IUD might have moved.  I was very stressed by the possibility of the IUD being out of place and needing further treatment/taking out/reinsertion and also because I have had very bad experience with gynaecology exams in the past (to the point of having PTSD for years because of what gynaecologists/nurses did to me).

I did not know that this clinic had no walk-in and had no appointment booked but the staff manage to find slots in between patients for me.  The doctor who saw me was very respectful and supportive when I mentioned being so stressed by internal exams.

She was very supportive and respectful during the exam and gave me very clear explanation of the results afterwards. every one that I saw at the clinic was very nice to myself and other patients.

The place seemed very empty, probably because of covid. It felt very safe covid-wise, with all the distancing and also good for confidentiality (they call you by a number rather than your name, have separate waiting rooms so that not everyone is seeing all other patients).

possible improvements:

- offer all patients up front to choose the size of speculum they want, do STI swab themselves, insert the speculum themselves, be in alternative positions... rather than rely on patient to (know they can) request this.

- put the examining table further away form the wall so that patients can do the "butterfly" with their legs for the exam rather than have feet/legs on stirr ups

- be more mindful about making patient talk about previous abuse they might have suffered. Asking about in writing would be less distressing for many patients and I would suggest adding a question/box for patient to say if they want to discuss it with a professional or not during the appointment so that they don't end up having to answer questions that might distress them if they don't want to on that day. 

Put a question asking if they know where to get support for this and another asking if they want the clinic to provide them with information on where to find support.  It seems that this question is routine and staff have to ask all patients but it is not clear what the goal is (demographics? to offer support? for statistics?...) and whatever the goal professionals should realise that this is very distressing to talk about, for some patients.  This may have been years ago and they don't need nor want to bring it up every time they go for an appointment.  It can make the appointment more difficult as it will trigger bad memories from having to speak about it again and also importantly this is patient's story so they should not be put on the spot or pressure to tell it. They should be free to decide when they speak about it or not.  If you are asking to offer more support and sensitive exam to those who have had triggering experiences, then the answer is not to ask every patients if they have suffered this but to assume they have, and offer extra sensitive care as default to every one.

- the registration form had a typo: it said " gender : male/female/non binary" and then "sex/sex at birth : male/female..." male/female refers to sex at birth NOT gender. gender is feminine/masculine/non-binary (not male/female). it is confusing and incorrect to use the same terms for 2 different concepts.

overall the staff made this very stressful and triggering time much better by being respectful, compassionate, patient and adaptable.

The opening time of the clinic (all day until 7pm) is very convenient: I hope it will stay this way and more sexual health clinics will have similar opening times (the last one I attended was only open for 1 day a week and there was nearly no drop in at all, even for emergencies!)