Clinic FAQ

It’s important to know when the right time to have a sexual health test is. The general recommendation if you are sexually active is to have a routine test every 6 months for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). If you’ve having that extra bit more fun with different partners, then we would recommend testing every 3 months.
Although the tests that we offer are highly advanced and lab-tested, to ensure that your results are accurate for all STIs, including HIV, there needs to be a 4-week window period where you are not putting yourself at any risk (see below).
If you wanted to test sooner, you can be accurately tested for chlamydia and gonorrhoea after 2 week, meaning that if you feel you may have put yourself at risk of either you do not have to wait 4 weeks to find out.

When do I know if I need a sexual health test?

If you are having anal sex (giving or receiving) without a condom.
If you are having oral sex (giving or receiving) without a condom.
If you are having sex with or without a condom with multiple partners.
If you give/receive rimming.
If you had sex with a condom (anal or oral) and the condom broke.
If you only use condoms for anal or oral sex sometimes but not all the time.

Any of the above would be considered as risk.

When do I not need to have a sexual health test?

If you wank someone else off.
If you wank yourself off.
If you only kiss.
If you don’t have any kind of sexual contact (oral, anal, rimming) with other people.

What are the benefits of getting a sexual health test at Splash?

Complete piece of mind over your sexual health.
Access to some treatment on site, if required.
Confidentiality assured – we will only contact you if we need to and will not state where we are contacting from. Your sexual health records cannot be accessed or seen by any other medical professionals other than sexual health.
Protecting you and your current/future sexual partners.
Only ever have one point of contact within the service, instead of multiple health professionals.

How will I get my results?

If all of your results come back negative, the nurse will not contact you.
The nurse will only contact you if you have any positive results and need treatment. If the nurse does contact, he will not say where he is calling from and will only leave a voicemail if requested.
If the nurse does not contact you after 2 weeks, you can get your results directly from him in a number of ways:
- You can call Splash when the clinics are open (Tuesday 11am-1:30pm, Thursday 3-5:30pm)
- You can visit the nurse during the Splash clinic times
- You can call Trade Sexual Health (0116 254 1747) on Fridays between 11am-1:30pm

What are the ways that I can protect myself from HIV and STIs?

Using condoms properly can effectively prevent getting HIV or other STIs – condoms also come in different sizes too. The better the fit, the more effective they will be. There are also tasty flavoured ones for oral sex too!
Don’t forget the lube – make sure it’s water-based lubricant if using them with condoms.
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) – a pill that can stop the person taking it from getting HIV. Best used with condoms for comprehensive cover against HIV and STIs.
Treatment as Prevention (TasP) – if you have HIV and start treatment as soon as you know, once the treatment is fully effective, you will have an undetectable viral load (UVL) which means you can no longer pass HIV onto other people.