by Grace Jessop · July 28, 2022

Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ /5
Address
56 Dean Street
Soho
London
W1D 6AQ
Opening hours
Monday: 8am–7pm
Tuesday: 8am–7pm
Wednesday: 12 noon–7pm
Thursday: 8am–7pm
Friday: 9am–4pm
Saturday: 11am–4pm
Sunday: Closed
Booking and accessibility
✅ | ❌ | Details | |
---|---|---|---|
Disabled Access | ✅ | ||
Online Booking | ✅ | ||
Phone Booking | ✅ | ||
Services open to anyone? | ✅ | ||
Trans and non-binary services | ✅ |
Services offered
✅ | ❌ | Details | |
---|---|---|---|
Disabled Access | ✅ | ||
Online Booking | ✅ | ||
Phone Booking | ✅ | ||
Services open to anyone? | ✅ | ||
Trans and non-binary services | ✅ |
Transport Links
Tube 🚆
Leicester Square—Northern & Piccadilly Lines (4-minute walk)
Piccadilly Circus—Piccadilly & Bakerloo Lines (5-minute walk)
Tottenham Court Road—Central & Northern Lines (6-minute walk)
Oxford Circus—Central, Bakerloo & Victoria Lines (12-minute walk)
Rail 🚂
Charing Cross Railway/Tube Station (12-minute walk)
Bus 🚌
Local bus routes
3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 23, 24, 25, 29,
38, 55, 73, 88, 94, 98, 139, 159, 176, 453
Car Parking 🚘
Limited availability of metered parking spaces and disabled parking spaces in Soho.
You can use the ParkRight app to search for available parking spaces in Westminster and to pay to park.
The vibes:
As I wait to cross the road towards it, I can see that Dean Street is instantly different from all the sexual health clinics I’ve ever had the privilege of visiting; externally, it presents more as a smart gym as opposed to a place where you’re sat down and told you’ve got chlamydia. As I step through the sliding glass doors, I am greeted by air con – welcome on a sweaty day in Soho – and a polite and friendly man who instantly tells me “the clinic’s upstairs”. I nod, and continue my journey up into a modern and not-too-busy waiting area.
Good vibes rating: 4/5
Discretion:
As I approach the reception desk, I am instantly greeted by a smiling receptionist who asks how she can help me.
“I’d like an appointment with a sexual health nurse?” I enquire tentatively.
“Of course.” she says, sliding a card across the desk which separates us.
“Which number best describes what you need the appointment for?”
I examine the card. “Um, number 4 I think”
She nods and flips the card over. “And from this list?”
I again tell her the corresponding number. In code, I have just told her that I have symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection, but, unless the others in the waiting room know the code initmately, they are none the wiser to my condition which is not one many of us would wish to shout about in public.
Discretion rating: 5/5
Waiting time until appointment:
They had an appointment available the next day at 5:20
Appointment availability: ⅘
Final comments:
And just as easy, and in fact more pleasantly, as booking a repair slot at the Apple Store, I walk away, the appointment booked and the problem (nearly) solved. Truly the best experience I’ve had accessing healthcare in all my 22 years.
This is not your standard NHS experience, and so, whether you need your coil strings snipped, or a round of antibiotics, if you’re near W1D, get yourself down to Dean Street.
Grace is The Lowdown’s summer intern, going undercover as a secret STI shopper to bring you honest reviews of London’s biggest sexual health clinics.