Doctors warn sexual disease clinics also known as Genito-urinary Medicine (GUM) Clinics are failing to tackle the rise in cases of sexual infections. The government has said it is working hard to improve access to clinics. The government has pledged that by 2008 patients will be seen at a GUM clinic with 48 hours. However, the government recognise there is still a long way to go to meet the 2008 target and said it would take some time for these efforts to produce results.

Figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) show that last year only 41% of people attending GUM clinics were seen within the recommended 48 hours and 26% were not even seen within 2 weeks.

According to research by the Terence Higgins Trust the delay in patients being seen can lead to increased infections and a further increase in demand on already over stretched services. It found that 30% of people waiting to be seen at GUM Clinics continue to have sex, despite showing symptoms.

The HPA also identified a North-South divide in the treatment of STD's with patients in the North waiting far longer for appointments. The shortest waiting times were in London.

Dr Angela Robinson, president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV warned "With waits of up to 8 weeks for a routine screen for STD's in some parts of the country and some people being turned away who may never get seen, STDs will continue to rise until capacity is increased sufficiently in specialist services with the experience to deal with cases efficiently and speedily."

In Britain the number of sexually transmitted diseases (STD's) recorded has doubled in five years.

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