Digital HIV PrEP service
Our digital PrEP service provides safe, cost-effective access to PrEP, with clinical assurance from our in-house team and pharmacy partner
Digital PrEP (DPrEP) is now available in England on our SH.UK platform.
Preventx offers a robust triage for PrEP which has been developed in alignment with BASHH/BHIVA standards by our senior clinicians, service developers and partners including PrEPster from The Love Tank, using insights from years of experience providing online sexual health services.
How it works
People who live in an area that offers DPrEP can simply start a journey on the SH.UK site and choose the PrEP service.
If they’re eligible, they’ll receive a tele-consultation with our sexual health nurse and receive postal eGFR and HIV self-sample tests to confirm they’re suitable for it. This enables eligible users to initiate or continue PrEP.
Alternatively, SH.UK will signpost to someone that they might be suitable for PrEP based on their triage answers for another SH.UK service. In this instance, the person can decide whether they’d like to initiate PrEP and receive a tele-consultation and tests.
Improving access
58%
of clinicians have concerns about missed opportunities for HIV PrEP initiation
57%
of people said they’d prefer to have PrEP posted to them
92.5%
of people signposted to PrEP by our online service did not go on to initiate PrEP in clinic
Both research and anecdotal stories from users of sexual health services tell us that for a combination of reasons – from stigma to accessing and appointments – people who would benefit from PrEP are not initiating its use.
Working alongside clinics, digital PrEP provides an access point for PrEP that has been demonstrated as widely acceptable to service users in online self sampling, postal treatment and contraception services.
“I’ve been a regular HIV PrEP user for 10 years, alternating between every-day and event-based use. An online service would be invaluable, as it would reduce the time I spend going to the local sexual health clinic, and therefore improve waiting times of patients who actually need assistance. At a time when the NHS is stretched so thin, and we’re even able to take our own samples for regular sexual health screenings at home, it seems like a no-brainer.”
A fully integrated service
As part of SH.UK, people who use the digital PrEP service can transition seamlessly between the services that are offered in their region.
We work closely with local clinics to ensure anyone who needs further support can access a local service.
- eGFR re-testing scheduled
- HIV testing provided by SH.UK
- STI testing for those at risk
- Treatment and contraception prescribing
- Condoms and health promotion
- Comprehensive data and reporting
