Bloomsbury Clinic

Welcome to the Bloomsbury Clinic

The Bloomsbury Clinic provides outpatient care for people with HIV at the Mortimer Market Centre in London.

• Anybody living with HIV in the UK can access our service, regardless of where they live and you can transfer your care without a referral, just phone or email us (see contact details on this page)
• We have a fantastic team that includes specialist doctors, nurses, psychologists, pharmacists, health advisers and peer support workers
• We have a pharmacy on site and offer blood tests, sexual health check-ups, contraception, menopause advice and clinical trials under one roof. We work closely with University College Hospital next door to provide inpatient care, specialist tests, antenatal care and referrals to other teams
• We also run clinics for people with hepatitis B and C as part of the North Central London hepatitis network.  Read more about our hepatitis services.
• We have a booklet that includes information about our services and how they can help you. It also points to other sources of information and support that you might find useful.

Please note, this service is for people living with HIV or viral hepatitis – if you need tests then please visit our STIs and contraception page.

Appointments

We offer booked appointments, face to face and by phone. If you prefer to see the same clinician we will try our best to accommodate this but on occasion you may be asked to see a different member of staff

• It is essential we have your correct contact details - if you may have updated your number since your last clinic visit please call 020 3317 5100 or email us at b.patients@nhs.net
• If you are due an appointment, or you wish to change your appointment time, please call 020 3317 5100 or email us at b.patients@nhs.net If you receive medications via Boots or home delivery please ensure you have at least a month of medications left at the time of your appointment.
• At the time of your phone appointment please ensure your phone is switched on, in an area of good reception where you have privacy to speak.  We will aim to call you at the exact time but we may call up to 20 minutes either side.  If we are unable to get through, we will send you a text asking you to re-book.  It may not be possible to re-book with the same clinician depending on capacity.
• Currently most phone appointments are 20 minutes long, and face to face appointments are 20 minutes for most senior doctors and 30 minutes for trainee doctors and specialist nurses.

If you are more than 10 minutes late for an appointment we will endeavour to see you but may ask you to rebook. We will ensure you have sufficient medication.

• For urgent clinical issues that cannot be addressed by your GP or NHS 111 please call 07464 835 124 where you can leave a message for a doctor who will get back to you within one working day – please do not use this number to book or change appointments.

Medications

Prior to your appointment please check how much medication you have left.  Please discuss how you receive your medications with your clinician during your appointment  - please note clinic and pharmacy opening hours to the right.

Please make sure you have at least a 30-day supply of medication and contact us if you have less than this.

Home delivery / Boots – if you are already signed up please ensure you have least four weeks of medications at the time of your appointment.

If you usually collect medications from Mortimer Market, please decide a pick-up date with your clinician during your phone appointment to reduce waiting time. Please pick up medications on the arranged date as pharmacy have limited storage room.

If you are running low on medications please call 020 3317 5100. We may be able to book you a phone appointment for the same day, otherwise we will organise an emergency to cover you until a phone appointment is available.

If someone needs to collect your medication from clinic for you they will need you name and date of birth.

Injectable treatments

The NHS now provides injectable HIV treatment for people who are eligible. This long-acting regimen consists of two injections, cabotegravir and rilpivirine. The injection is given into the side of each buttock every two months.

Key Information:

This treatment is not suitable for everyone. You will not be eligible if:

• You have known or suspected resistance to cabotegravir or rilpivirine.
• Your viral load is detectable.
• You cannot commit to attending appointments every 2 months.

It is essential to attend injection appointments on time. You can receive your injections up to seven days before or after the due date. Longer delays increase the risk of the virus becoming detectable and developing resistance.

Each clinic visit takes up to 45 minutes. This includes 15 minutes observation time after the injections.

In clinical trials, the viral load became detectable in around 1 in 100 (1%) of people per year. This occurred even when injections were given on time. If this happens, most people develop resistance to one or both drugs. This means you may not be able to switch back to your previous tablets.

The most common side effect is injection site discomfort. This usually wears off with time, but other side effects may occur.

If you would like to discuss injectable treatment, please speak to a member of the HIV care team.

HIV Peer Support in Bloomsbury

The Bloomsbury Clinic at the Mortimer Market Centre has been a front runner in providing open access Peer Support to our patients for over twenty years.

HIV Peer support workers are professionals living with HIV, who are happy to share their own journey of living with HIV to aid in the recovery of others. They provide a ‘lived experience’ approach to managing HIV on a day to day basis, focussing on the emotional and practical issues that may come up after diagnosis, and different from a medical perspective of managing HIV.

Our Peer support team provide a ‘person centred and solution focused approach’ to the issues that living with HIV presents. We offer help and advice, brief solution focussed informal counselling, and signposting to external agencies.

We are not experts in housing, immigration or benefits advice but we can signpost to those who are.

Beyond Diagnosis’ courses (BDCs)

Alongside our colleagues from the Bloomsbury Network we also co-run four ‘Beyond Diagnosis’ courses (BDCs) annually.

• ‘Beyond diagnosis’ courses run over three consecutive Saturdays and explore many of the aspects of living well with HIV including HIV Transmission, HIV and Sex, Managing Stigma, Medication and Prevention.
• The course is designed and delivered by people living with HIV for those who have had a new diagnosis and those who have been living with HIV for some time but feel that they need more information.
• You do not need to be a Bloomsbury patient to attend BDCs, the only attendance criteria is that you are living with HIV and want to learn more about it.
• If you would like to speak to one of the Peer support team about attending a BDC or any other issues please contact us on 020 3317 5177 or email cnwl.MMC-HIV-PeerSupport@nhs.net (please leave a clear message with your details if your call goes to our answerphone and we will get back to you asap).  

We are linked to the Bloomsbury Network, an independent charity run by and for people living with HIV. The Bloomsbury Network (BN) co-run BDCs (see above) and also organise various social events and forums/clinical updates throughout the year. You can read more and sign up for updates and newsletters on the Bloomsbury website.

Other organisations

There are several organisations providing peer support in London, including Positively UK and the Terrence Higgins Trust – please speak to our peer support workers or Health Advisers for information about these and other organisations

Emotional and wellbeing support

If you need emotional or wellbeing support from us please visit this page.  

We're upgrading our health records system

In August 2025, we’re moving from our current health records system to a new one.

Frequently Asked Questions

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1. Why are you changing systems?
We’re switching to improve your care — making it safer, more joined-up, and more efficient.

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2. How might this help me?

• Better communication: With your consent, your records can be shared with other services, including your GP.
• Safer care: Clinicians can see a more complete picture of your health.
• Less repetition: You may not need to repeat tests, as results can be shared.
• Fewer delays: Appointments, test results, prescriptions, and referrals are easier to track.
• Future benefits: Additional features may be introduced — we’ll keep you informed closer to the time.

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3. Is my information still private?
Yes. Your privacy is very important to us. The new health records system meets strict NHS security standards and complies with data protection laws.

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4. Do I need to do anything?
No. We’re taking care of everything. We will be reducing the number of appointments during the transition and will contact anyone directly affected. You’re welcome to check back here for updates.