General practice plays a vital role in sexual health, acting as the primary point of contact for patients seeking advice, screening, and care. While recent public health data shows positive declines in some areas, the overall volume of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in England remains high, with the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) recording over 330,000 new diagnoses annually.
For primary care teams, managing these cases goes far beyond simple diagnosis. While chlamydia accounts for nearly half of all new STI cases, general practice must also navigate more complex issues, including rising syphilis rates in women and the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea. Addressing this evolving landscape requires moving from reactive care to a structured, practice-wide prevention framework.
Four Clinical Priorities for Your Next Sexual Health Consultation
- Understand the changing landscape: Keep up to date with shifting trends, such as specific demographics facing higher transmission rates and the emergence of drug-resistant strains.
- Normalise the conversation: Use open, non-judgmental communication to make routine sexual health and risk prevention discussions a standard part of patient appointments.
- Deploy a structured framework: Use practical, everyday tools and clinical pathways to systematically integrate testing and management into your daily practice.
- Define your role in prevention: Protect your patient community by actively supporting early intervention, partner notification, and targeted risk-reduction education.
Strengthen Your Clinical Practice
To help you put these strategies into action during your busy clinics, we have launched a concise, 30-minute eCPD module: Rise of STIs in the UK: Prevention and Management of STIs in General Practice.
This course is accredited by the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK (RCP) and is designed specifically for general practitioners, resident doctors, and medical students.
Through a highly practical, case-based approach, this brief 30-minute update equips you with a structured practice framework to streamline your clinical approach to bacterial STIs, normalise essential patient conversations, and actively contribute to reducing transmission rates in your community.