Diagnosis and management of gonorrhoea in primary care

Nurses working in primary care settings will likely meet people either at risk of or presenting with suspected or confirmed sexually transmitted infections, including gonorrhoea. As such they are ideally placed to offer screening, advice and onward referral to specialist care. Gonorrhoea has appeared prominently in recent professional and media reports, due to increasing problems with antibiotic resistance making treatment and prevention of infection a concern.¹

The British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH)^2,3 and Royal College of General Practitioners⁴ strongly recommend referring anyone with symptoms suggestive of a sexually acquired infection to a genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic or other local specialist sexual health service. However in circumstances where services cannot be accessed within a reasonable time, or if the person is unwilling to attend, the person can be managed in primary care – if the appropriate expertise is available.