another visit to the clap clinic ...

since it was well over a year since my last sexual health checkup ... i thought i should go and get seen again ...

i did wonder about going private, but there is an NHS clinic near me, and since i don't really consume many public services, it seemed like a waste not to use the NHS ...

my appointment confirmation did say that it might take 2 hours, so i brought plenty of reading material with me ... and i needed it all !

the first impression wasn't great - the receptionist told me to wait (standing right in front of her) as she seemed to be busy with somebody else's file. the other receptionist studiously ignored me. finally a 3rd receptionist arrived, a miserable bloke who seemed annoyed to be there, and told me to fill in a form detailing why i was there. eventually, after a bit of confusion when i handed back the form to a different receptionist i made it into the waiting room ...

about 40 minutes after my appointment time, i was called by a doctor - she was really nice, although seemed a bit rushed, but was really helpful, and discussed again whether i should have a Hepatitis B vaccination ... pointing out that most of Europe vaccinates against it automatically (I already knew the US did), and that the UK is unusual in not doing so. she also suggested that there is a much higher incidence amongst gay men, than in the general population, which is why they offer it - and she suggested that she would want her children to have the vaccine. having declined the vaccine on my previous two visits, i decided to take it this time ...

so after about 5 minutes with the doctor, it was back to the waiting room, and about half an hour later, i got called in by the (rather camp) health advisor. his job was to check that i wasn't going to have a breakdown if any of my tests came back positive - so just a few minutes later i was back to the waiting room ...

my third wait wasn't quite so bad, about 20 minutes later i was called by the very pleasant female nurse, who gave me my first vaccine shot (i have to go back in a week's time for my 2nd, and a couple of months later for my 3rd) ... took 3 vials of my blood ... and 2 swabs from my ass ... and gave me a specimen bottle to piss into ...

so having gone to the bathroom and produced some urine ... and having made an appointment for my 2nd vaccine shot using the surly male receptionist who wasn't impressed that i was interrupting his mobile phone call ... i was finally out of there about an hour and three quarters after arriving ...