Chlamydia screening in primary care

Pippa Oakeshott recommends referral to genitourinary medicine (GUM) for partner notification,1 but we would question how feasible this would be in the context of a national chlamydia screening programme. There is much concern about the long waiting times for GUM appointments2 so an alternative would be for partner notification to be performed in primary care. Opportunistic screening for chlamydia is routinely performed in this practice.3 Over a 6-month period a trained health visitor undertook the role of partner notification and results showed that partner notification was completed in 10 out of 11 cases. By contrast, since the service was withdrawn and people had to travel to a GUM department, only 22 out of 40 detected cases received any partner notification. Our conclusion is that partner notification is feasible in primary care if resourced properly.

• © British Journal of General Practice, 2004.