Welcome to Cheshire West and Chester Sexual Health Service

Clinic walkthrough video

Walk-in and appointment times across Cheshire West and Chester

We have added a timetable below to show the latest walk-in and appointment times across Cheshire West and Chester. Please click here to view or download this file.  You can also call us on 0300 247 0020 for more information.

Urgent symptoms

Our services are open Monday-Thursday 08:30-19:30, Friday 08:30-16:00 and Saturday 09:00-16:30. For an emergency or urgent help outside these hours, visit your nearest A&E which is likely to be Countess of Chester Hospital, Arrowe Park Hospital or Warrington & Halton Hospital. Find your nearest urgent care service and find your nearest A&E.

Rape and abuse

If you’ve been sexually assaulted, please don’t suffer alone. It’s important that you’re seen as soon as possible for physical and emotional support. You can call us straight away but we recommend you first contact your nearest Sexual Assault & Referral Centre (SARC) which is St Mary’s SARC. Their helpline is run by crisis workers and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 0161 276 6515.

Chat Sexual Health

If you’re aged 13-18 years, you can access our Chat Sexual Health service. Chat Sexual Health is a confidential texting service offering you a quick and easy way for you to chat to us about all things sexual health. Our team are here to help with:

• STI testing
• Free condoms
• Safe sex
• Relationships
• Consent
• Contraception
• Emergency contraception
• Pregnancy testing
• LGBTQIA+ support
• Advice

Contact us by texting 07312 263141 or Start a chat – Cheshire West and Chester Chat Sexual Health

Chat Sexual Health is not a live chat service, but our team aim to respond to all queries within 24 hours. This excludes weekends and bank holidays.

Emergency contraception - IUD's

Emergency IUDs are the most effective form of emergency contraception and can be fitted at our sexual health clinics please call us on 0300 247 0020.

If you’ve had unprotected sex and want to know your pregnancy risk and options, you might like to use the SXT emergency contraception calculator. This will help you to assess your pregnancy risk but it cannot tell you for certain whether you are or will become pregnant.

Emergency contraception - contraceptive pills

Emergency contraceptive pills are available free from our sexual health clinics, please contact us in 0300 247 0020. You can also contact your registered GP practice. Out of hours, emergency contraceptive pills are available from most NHS walk-in centres, minor injury units, and some hospital A&E departments.

If you’re aged between 15-25 years emergency contraceptive pills are available from from free from some pharmacies, and available from most pharmacies at cost.

Contraception

Choosing the best method for you can be confusing. We have lots of easy-to-understand information and videos on each of the different methods available, including how they work, where to get them, the advantages and disadvantages. From condoms to pills, patches to implants, and short-term to more permanent solutions, we can help you find the contraception that is right for you.

Please click on the links below for more information about contraception:

Preparing for a contraception appointment 

Methods of contraception 

Which method is right for me 

Pregnancy testing

If you think that you may be pregnant it is important to take a pregnancy test. You can purchase a test from your local pharmacy, supermarket, or contact your local service to arrange an appointment by calling 0300 247 0020.

Pregnancy choices

If you’ve tested positive for pregnancy and don’t know what to do, you can contact a member of the team to make an appointment to discuss your options.  We also have helpful information available on the page below: 

Help & Advice for Unplanned Pregnancy | HCRG Care Group (thesexualhealthhub.co.uk)

HIV care in Cheshire West and Chester

At the Fountains Sexual Health Clinic we work with patients to provide lifelong HIV care which empowers them to live well. We are committed to providing a high quality, comprehensive service by multi-disciplinary team working.

This leaflet is for people who have been transferred from other services or are newly diagnosed with HIV. It gives information about HIV care available within the clinic, Cheshire and surrounding areas.

PrEP- Pre-exposure prophylaxis

PrEP or pre-exposure prophylaxis involves HIV negative people taking medication to prevent HIV. Recent research has shown that if taken correctly, this medication is highly effective at preventing HIV infection. 

PrEP does not protect against any other STI’s, only HIV. You will need to take other precautions in addition to PrEP to protect yourself from all other STI’s. We recommend that people who are taking PrEP should have regular STI testing, and a HIV test every 3 months. 

Further advice on how to take can be found at iwantprepnow. You can also find more information at Prepster and Get PrEP*PED.

PEPSE (anti-HIV medication)

PEPSE can stop HIV infection taking hold after the virus has entered the body. However, it is an emergency measure to be used as a last resort. Please call us if you think you need PEPSE on 0300 247 0020. You can get this from Sexual Health, HIV clinics and Accident & Emergency.  Regular family doctors (GPs) don’t give PEPSE.

STI's

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can be passed on from one person to another when having unprotected sex or through genital, oral or anal contact. We’ve got lots of helpful information about common STI’s on our website.

Postal testing

If you’re aged 16 and over living in Cheshire West and Chester, without any symptoms or concerns you can order a postal test online. Our online postal testing service is free and we offer Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, HIV and Syphilis testing. Your postal test can be delivered to your home address or one of our sexual health clinics. If you’re aged between 16 and 17 we do ask you some safeguarding questions during your online order. If we need to discuss your answers with you, we will contact you on the telephone number provided.

Postal testing is not suitable for patients under 16 years old, if you are under 16, please contact us on 0300 247 0020 to make an appointment.

Order a free STI test

Get tested at your local clinic

Please contact us on 0300 247 0020  to make an appointment for a STI test if:

• You’re under 16
• You have symptoms or concerns

Click here for more information on how to prepare for an STI appointment

Pick up a test from your local clinic

If you are aged 16 and over without any symptoms or concerns, you can pick up a testing kit from your local sexual health clinics. We offer Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, HIV and Syphilis testing:

Find your nearest clinic here.

Getting your results

Once you’ve taken your test, either in clinic or by using a postal test your sample will be tested at the laboratory.  We aim to provide all results within 7-10 days. If you don’t receive your results within 10 days, please contact us on 0300 247 0020

Treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STI's)

If you find out that you have an infection, please contact us on 0300 247 0020 to make an appointment. All treatment is free of charge. Please click here for more information about STI’s and treatment.

Partner notification

If you’ve tested positive, your sexual partner(s) from the last six months will need to know. Many people who have an STI do not notice anything wrong and, left untreated, STIs can lead to serious health problems. Telling them will help them to get tested and any treatment they need and may also stop you from getting infected again.

Most health services call the process of telling your partners “partner notification.” It is a completely confidential process.

Please click here for more information.

Get free condoms

If you are aged 16 and  over you can pick up condoms from the sexual health service at The Fountains, alternatively you can contact SexSmart (https://www.bpcnw.co.uk/sexsmart/sexsmart-services/sexsmart-free-condoms/) who offer condoms by post.

If you are under 16, please contact your local clinic on 0300 247 0020.

Cervical screening (smear test)

Cervical screening (also known as a smear test) is a test to check the health of your cervix. The cervix is the opening to your womb from the vagina. A cervical screening test is offered to all women aged 25-64. You can now visit your local sexual health service to have a cervical screen. Please contact us on 0300 247 0020 to make an appointment. Please remember to bring your cervical screen invitation letter with you to your appointment. You can also visit your local GP to access this service.

Please visit the NHS website for more helpful information about cervical screening.

Psychosexual counselling and support

Psychosexual therapy uses an integrated approach to working with sexual problems.

What problems can be referred?

Non gender specific:

• Loss of desire
• Pain during sex or inability to have penetrative sex.

Males

• Difficulty in achieving or maintaining an erection.
• Ejaculation problems

In Women

• Difficulties with orgasm
• Vulval pain
• Vaginismus
• Loss of desire 

This service is by appointment only. You need to be referred by your GP to access this service.

Vasectomy

A vasectomy is a popular method of family planning chosen by millions of men worldwide. It’s safe, effective and offers a permanent solution to your contraceptive needs. The procedure takes about 15 minutes, and is one of the most effective methods that exits.

To access our vasectomy services patients can self-refer by contacting 0300 247 0020. We offer a full vasectomy service including:

Consultation (pre-operative assessment) either by phone or face to face including advise on possible complications, aftercare and Post Vasectomy Semen Analysis (PVSA).

• Counselling  by telephone
• Vasectomy procedure
• PVSA testing

Our performance