Urology

Genitourinary Medicine

Genitourinary medicine is a portmanteau that includes aspects of andrology, gynecology and urology. It is primarily related to medicine dealing with sexually transmitted diseases. Delivery of sexual healthcare by nurses and general practitioners was generally found to be acceptable, although this varies by patient sex and ethnicity. Some differences exist between the preferences of a general population sample compared with clinic attenders, but overall there is a high level of concordance. Walk‐in clinics remain a popular choice even when appointment waiting times are short. Rates of sexually transmitted infections and attendances at genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics have increased over the past 5 years.1,2 Clinics have been encouraged to review how services are delivered and ensure the effective use of available resources. Various initiatives have been suggested, including the introduction of nurse‐delivered services, use of telephone follow‐up clinics, giving results by mobile phone texting and not contacting patients with results unless they are positive. It is important that the views of patients are sought as new ways of delivering services are introduced. Several potential factors may make it difficult to obtain patient involvement in sexual healthcare: patient embarrassment, language barriers in patients from ethnic minorities and a highly mobile population base. It may be equally if not more problematic to obtain the views of those who have not used sexual healthcare services but may need to in the future.