Testing for STIs

Get tested

At Umbrella, we advise all sexually active people to get tested for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis. Some patients may need testing for other infections too.

Self-sampling kits

If you’re aged 16 or over and living in Birmingham or Solihull you can request a free STI self-sampling kit. You can use the kit to take your own samples at home and send them back to us for free. We’ll test your samples and let you know the results by phone or text message.

At a clinic

If you’re worried about STIs and you’re not sure whether you need to come to clinic to get tested, let us help.

The types of tests you’ll have will vary depending on your situation and on why you’re worried. A nurse or doctor will explain what tests you need and why.

• Don’t be afraid to ask questions
• For most tests, it’s best not to urinate for two hours before your appointment
• If you need to be examined you may have to undress
• If you don’t have symptoms you may not need to undress or be examined. Sometimes the nurse will explain how to take the swab(s) and you can take them yourself

The doctor or nurse may carry out the following as part of the physical examination.

Men:

• Visual check of your genitals
• Examination of the penis and testicles to check for discharge, pain or sores
• Taking a swab from the urethra (the opening of the penis)
• Asking for a urine sample
• Taking a blood sample to be tested

Women:

• Visual check of your genitals
• Speculum exam: this involves placing a device called a speculum inside the vagina to hold it open so the vagina and cervix can be seen
• Swabs may be taken from the vagina and/or cervix
• Bi-manual exam: this involves the doctor or nurse placing the fingers of one hand into the vagina while the other hand presses on the abdomen. This is so they can feel your ovaries and uterus
• Taking a swab from a lesion or sore if you have one
• Asking for a urine sample
• Taking a blood sample to be tested

Our doctors and nurses are fully trained to make you feel comfortable during the examination.

Men without symptoms may provide us with a urine sample for chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing. Women without symptoms may provide us with a self-taken vaginal swab for chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing.

Results

If you’ve been tested from home (self-sampling kits)

Don’t be alarmed if you don’t receive all your results at the same time as some tests take longer to process than others. For example, you may receive a negative oral chlamydia result (no infection found) but receive a positive chlamydia result (infection found) from another part of your body.

If you’ve been tested in clinic

Depending on the tests, if you’ve been tested in clinic, some of the results may be ready on the day of your visit. If we find an infection during your visit, we’ll usually give you treatment straight away.

Most results can take up to 10 working days, but some test results may take a bit longer. Your result will be automatically sent to your mobile as a text message. This is the fastest method to be informed of your test result.

Some patients don’t want us to text their test results to their mobiles. If you choose not to have your results texted to you, we’ll let you know your results by post or telephone (whichever you have chosen) only if a result is positive (“abnormal”). Receiving results this way may take longer than by text.

If you have no reliable way for us to contact you, or you want to receive results whatever they are, we’ll make an appointment for you to come back. Please make sure you keep your appointment. This is the slowest way of receiving your test results.

Gender

For testing purposes, we may need to know if your gender was different at birth, or if you are non-binary. The doctor, nurse or healthcare worker will discuss this with you.