Virgin Care Services During COVID-19

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the way you can access our services has changed.

Online Services

If you are 16 or over, live in a Virgin care area and don’t have any symptoms or concerns, then you can access our postal testing service online. Our online postal testing service offers Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, HIV and Syphilis testing. Please order your kits here

If you are under 16 or have any symptoms or concerns , please call your local clinic

Sexual Health Clinics

All ‘walk-in’ clinics have been cancelled until further notice. All patients will be offered an initial telephone triage/consultation Please do not attend the service unless you have been advised to attend, following a telephone consultation with a Nurse/Doctor

All of our smaller sessional spoke clinics are currently not running; we are operating from all our main clinic hub services. Hub clinics can be contacted by telephone.

Please contact your local clinic if you require further advice or an appointment.

0300 330 1122 for Teesside and North and North East Lincolnshire residents between 9am-5pm Mon-Fri and 9am-1pm Sat
0300 303 8565 for Oldham, Bury and Rochdale residents between 9am-5pm Mon-Fri and 9am-1pm Sat
0300 247 0020 for Cheshire West and Chester residents between 8.30am-4pm Mons- Fri and 9am-3.30pm Sat

Please note that all patients will be given a telephone consultation and if necessary then offered a further face to face consultation. All patients will be asked a series of screening questions around COVID-19, this is to help keep our patients and colleagues safe.

Emergency Contraception

If you need EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION you have the following options:

Contact your local clinic
Contact your GP
Please see the links below to show where you can access emergency contraception in your area:

Like all other health care providers, both GPs/Pharmacies are very busy at the moment, so please call ahead and make sure someone is there to help you.

PrEP

Due to the current Covid-19 situation we are not able to run our routine PrEP appointments. We are therefore planning to run a remote service using postal testing and extended prescriptions to support existing patients.

With the current social distancing guidance, we recognise many of you will no longer be sexually active and may choose to stop taking PrEP during this time. Click here for advice on stopping and starting PrEP.

For those who are taking PrEP, we recommend a test every three months and most importantly an HIV test. We can offer postal testing to service users of the areas we cover

Contraception

We are prioritising these groups for coils and implant fits (Long Acting Reversible Contraception - LARC):

Those with vulnerabilities included but not limited to:

under 18’s
previously attended abortion and maternity services
homeless
sex workers
patients with language barriers
drug and alcohol problems
learning difficulties
serious mental illness

If you are outside of these groups and require LARC, please contact your local service and we can arrange for an appointment to be offered when available.

Please click here to see the updated guidance on contraception during COVID.

Cervical Cytology

If you have received a cervical cytology reminder, please contact your local Virgin Care service to find out if they are currently offering this service. Alternatively, please contact your registered GP

Attending the Service

Only attend the service if you have been advised to do so by a Nurse/Doctor

If you are asked to attend the service, please wear a face covering.

During COVID-19, you will be seen on your own, unless there are special circumstances where you require a carer or a support worker. The nurse or doctor will offer a trained chaperone as necessary.

Do not visit any of our services and please call us to cancel your appointment if any of the following apply to you:

A high temperature, meaning you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
A new, continuous cough – this means you’ve started coughing repeatedly
You live with someone displaying any of the above symptoms
You have been contacted by Test and Trace services and asked to self-isolate.
You have recently arrived back in the UK after a holiday abroad in a country where government advice is that you need to self-isolate – details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-corridors

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