Testing, treatment and prevention in Marylebone, with results the same day. And time for the worry about it, which is often the part that actually needs the appointment.
Most of this is quick. Samples taken, results back the same day, treatment started the same day or the next, and almost all of it done here rather than referred on. What takes longer, and what most testing services are not set up for, is everything around it: whether to test at all, what you actually need testing for, how to tell a partner, and the anxiety that a negative result settles for a fortnight and then does not.
A screen built around what you actually do, rather than the same four infections for everyone.
Usually back the same day, always within 24 hours, and I ring you.
Nearly all of it here, including genital warts, on the day where possible.
PrEP, doxyPEP, and vaccination against hepatitis A and B, HPV and gonorrhoea.
Anxiety about HIV and STIs, which for a lot of men is the more useful half of the appointment.
Anonymously if that is all you need, and properly if there is a relationship in it.
What you actually need, rather than a fixed list. I test according to your risk and your symptoms, and the range goes well beyond the four infections most men have in mind. Tell me what you actually do and you get the right screen rather than a longer one.
What a screen can cover:
Yes, and sooner rather than later. Discharge, pain or burning when you pee, sores, ulcers, itching, a rash, or a lump you have not seen before are all worth looking at. Don't wait for a testing window to pass: those windows are for ruling an infection out when you have no symptoms, and they are the wrong guide when something is already there. Results are usually back the same day and always within 24 hours, and most of what causes these we treat here.
It depends on the infection, and testing too early is the commonest reason a reassuring result turns out to be wrong. If you have symptoms, come now rather than waiting. If the exposure was recent and high risk, say so when you book.
Counting from the exposure:
Results are usually back the same day and always within 24 hours, and I ring you. If something needs treating we start straight away rather than booking you in again.
Almost all of it is treated here: chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and herpes. Genital warts are treated on site with high quality cryotherapy, using a proper clinical unit rather than the freeze sprays sold over the counter, which is worth knowing because it is the treatment men most often get sent elsewhere for or left to manage themselves.
The one exception is HIV. If a test is positive I refer you to an HIV physician, because that is care you should have from a specialist team rather than from me. Nothing is told to anyone without your consent, and recent partners can be told anonymously through a service that never names you.
There is more available than most men realise, and it is worth doing properly rather than piecemeal. I vaccinate against hepatitis A and B, against HPV, and against gonorrhoea. There is PrEP, a medication taken regularly to prevent HIV. And there is doxyPEP, a dose of doxycycline after sex that reduces the chance of picking up syphilis and chlamydia. That last one is not right for everyone, and it is a conversation about your risks and benefits rather than something I hand out.
The vaccinations:
Yes, oral PrEP with the monitoring that goes with it, as part of ordinary care here rather than a separate service. Injectable PrEP is not yet available privately anywhere in the UK and I will offer it as soon as it is. If that is what you are waiting for, ask and I will tell you where things stand.
Go today, and don't wait for an appointment with me. PEP is a month of medication that greatly reduces the chance of an HIV exposure becoming an infection, but it has to start within 72 hours and sooner is better. A&E and NHS sexual health clinics both hold it and can start you the same day. The main drug, raltegravir, is expensive and hard to get privately, and this is genuinely one thing the NHS does faster than I can.
Anxiety about HIV and STIs is very common, sometimes after one specific incident and sometimes as a worry that has attached itself and won't let go. A negative result often settles it for a fortnight rather than for good, which is why testing on its own can become the thing you keep doing instead of the thing that helps.
For a lot of men the worry is the more useful half of the appointment.
This is not a rushed appointment in and out, unless that is what you want. There is time to work on the fear itself rather than only on the result, and where it fits I use EMDR, a structured approach developed for trauma which can be effective when the anxiety is anchored to a particular experience.
Telling a partner can be done anonymously, through a service that never names you, if that is all you need. It is rarely the part men are stuck on. There is usually a relationship somewhere in it: whether to tell, how to, or what a diagnosis has already done to the trust between you. That is a conversation I have often and one most testing services are not set up to have at all. Here the test and that conversation happen in the same place.
There are two, and the difference is how many places the samples come from rather than one being better. DrBen3 is £135, DrBen4 is £165, and the nurse appointment to take the samples is £50 on top. You can book the nurse directly without seeing me first. Which one is right depends on your risk and your symptoms, and I would rather tell you than have you guess.
What each includes:
The nurse appointment is exactly that: samples taken and nothing else. Seeing me is a wider review of your sexual health, what is worth preventing, and time for any sexual difficulties, as well as the tests.
Only with your consent. Keeping your NHS GP informed is generally good practice and I usually recommend it, but plenty of men prefer to keep this side of their care separate, and some come here precisely because they have no GP relationship they want to use for it. Either is fine and neither needs explaining.
The clinic is at Central Health London, 23 Devonshire Place, Marylebone, a quiet and discreet address a short walk from Regent’s Park. Most men arrive anxious and leave relieved. You will be welcomed by reception, offered tea or coffee, and given time to settle before we start.
A first consultation is usually an hour. We go through your symptoms, your medical and family history, and your sexual experience, relationships and lifestyle: the medical, psychological and relational picture together rather than one at a time.
I will ask you a lot of questions. You do not have to answer any of them: saying "I would rather not answer that" is a complete answer and nothing follows from it. A physical examination is sometimes useful, particularly for erection problems, and it is always optional. You stay in control of the appointment throughout.
If you have had recent blood tests, send them ahead. If not I will arrange them, and I will tell you which ones need taking before 11am.
If you are in your fifties or sixties, have no GP you know well, do not much like going to the doctor, but recognise it is time to take your health seriously, this is a reasonable place to start. I often find things that matter and have been missed.
If you want help but are wary of seeing someone who is not comfortable talking about gay or queer sex, you can come to someone who does not need it explained, and who will not judge or shame you.
Men who have tried quick fixes, or had a purely medical or purely therapeutic approach that did not help. I see a lot of men for second opinions. And men of any age and in any kind of relationship who want to understand what is going on rather than be handed a prescription.
I am a GP, a sexual medicine specialist and a COSRT-registered psychosexual therapist, working at 23 Devonshire Place, Marylebone, central London, alongside NHS general practice in Hackney.
Most men reading a page like this arrived from a search rather than my homepage, so this is probably the first you have heard of me. The short version: I hold the medical, the psychological and the relational picture together in one appointment, rather than sending you to three people who each see a third of it.
More about how I workThese rarely arrive on their own. If one of these sounds closer to what you’re dealing with, start there instead.
If something doesn’t feel right, it’s worth understanding why, before deciding what, if anything, to treat.
Booking and availability