What is partner notification?
Partner Notification refers to contacting current and previous sexual partners and informing them that they have been in contact with an STI and encouraging them to test and/or take treatment.
Why are we asking about your partner/s?
Partner notification (PN) is important for many reasons:
- To reduce re-infection in yourself (ie after treatment you don't then acquire the infection back again from untreated partner(s)
- To prevent onward transmission from untreated partners having sexual contact with anyone else i.e. "break the chain of infection".
- Early diagnosis and treatment of STIs reduces the risk of developing complications such as reduce fertility and pelvic infection. In light of this, through SHL, your partner may be eligible to receive early treatment for the STI in question in advance of receiving their STI test result.
What information about my partner(s) does SHL need and what does SHL do with it?
To complete partner notification you will be asked how many partners you have had sexual contact with in the last three months or when your last sexual contact was (if your last contact was over three months ago). We will advise you contact these partners (if safe to do so) to encourage them to get tested and inform us (if possible) what the outcome was, i.e. if they were tested and/or received treatment.
We do not ask for any personal information about your partner(s), or ordinarily make direct contact with them unless you would like us to. Asking you to share this information with us is not meant to be punitive nor is the intention to embarrass you or be nosey, but we are obliged to make concerted efforts to minimise any ongoing harm to you and your partner(s) and are following national recommendations to make sure you have been managed comprehensively and appropriately.
What do I say to my partner?
If you feel safe to do so inform your partner of your STI diagnosis as early as possible. If they live in London they can likely order a STI test kit through SHL and when they complete the test-kit order form, they should select they have been in contact with the relevant STI. If the STI in question is chlamydia they will be prompted to consider contacting the SHL nursing team to see if they are eligible to start treatment before any of their own results are back (epidemiological treatment). Epidemiological treatment can be dispensed by post and started very promptly. If the STI in question is gonorrhoea or syphilis your partner will need to attend clinic for any epidemiological treatment.
NB Some contacts/partners with significant symptoms may not be eligible to use SHL and in these cases it is usually better for them to be assessed and treated in a clinic setting. It is advisable to avoid any sexual contact until both you and your current partner(s) have completed treatment and all symptoms have settled.
Once you have your partner/s, the clinical team will follow up with you the following week to check if they have been tested and/or treated or booked a clinic appointment.
Can my partner get treatment from you?
SHL only provides remote treatment for chlamydia. Some contacts when ordering their postal testing kit via SHL will receive a notification to speak with our SHL nursing team regarding remote/postal provision of epidemiological treatment for chlamydia (usually given before test results are back).
What if I don't want to inform my partners?
Sexual contacts of chlamydia that test positive for chlamydia via SHL may also be eligible for remote/postal treatment. Some contacts eg those with significant symptoms may not be eligible for testing or remote chlamydia treatment via SHL.
We understand informing sexual partner/s about a positive result can be hard, but it is important they are aware. If you do not inform them not only does it impact them, it can also impact you, for instance, if you have sexual contact with them in the future, there is a risk of re-infection to yourself. It is particularly important to inform pregnant partners as having untreated STIs can affect the health of the unborn child. Partner notification is important for all newly diagnosed sexually transmitted infections including chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, HIV and Hepatitis B or C. If you choose to attend clinic for treatment you will be asked similar questions about partner notification there too.
Can you help me inform my partner/s?
The SHL clinical team are happy to assist you with partner notification and discuss ways of approaching your partner if you find this difficult. We can also anonymously inform your sexual contacts if you wish - this is done via a phone call. We do ask service users to take time to consider this, even though we not share details you may be identifiable if you are the only person that individual has recently had sexual contact with. If you are on speaking terms and interactions are positive we do advise that you share this information in the first instance.
I've asked SHL to inform my partner/s anonymously (provider referral), how is this done and will I be notified if you’ve gotten into contact with them?
Once you request provider referral the clinical team will aim to contact your partner/s the next working day. This is done by phone call and in order to keep this anonymous we call them from an unknown number and do not share details of the exact service we are calling from, nor do we name you as the contact. We inform them of the infection and advise testing and/or clinic attendance. We will make x2 contact attempts to inform your partner(s). Unfortunately due to restraints of the service we are unable to make further attempts after that.