S. Madge et al., Do people attending a same day testing clinic discuss their need for a HIVtest with their GP?, BR J GEN PR, 49(447), 1999, pp. 813-815
In the United Kingdom, people with HIV infection present with advanced dise
ase and general practitioners (GPs) are currently an underused resource for
HIV testing. We describe the reasons for using an open-access clinic rathe
r than primary care for testing for HIV. People attending the clinic were a
sked to complete a questionnaire asking about GP registration, access, and
whether HIV testing was discussed in primary care. Despite access to GPs, H
IV testing in primary care was rarely discussed. If HIV testing is to move
to a general practice setting, GPs could address the issues, such as the re
cording of sensitive information in notes, future life insurance, and confi
dentiality, which this report identifies as the main barriers for using pri
mary care.