about 56 dean street

56 Dean Street has a mission to get HIV transmission in London to zero.

56 Dean Street aims to be at the heart of London’s gay community, organising and supporting community and cultural events as an extension of its core services. Based in London’s Soho district, it prescribes a quarter of the UK’s HIV post exposure prophylaxis, provides chemsex support services and diagnoses a quarter of country’s HIV and STI’s in gay men. 

People on effective HIV treatment cannot pass the virus to others. The clinic was an early advocate of immediate treatment after diagnosis. Over 70% of people testing HIV positive at the clinic now start antiretroviral treatment within 48 hours.

The clinic has championed the use of PrEP, initially offering drug testing and support for those whose only option was to source it online. It made free PrEP available as widely as possible by being England’s largest recruiter to the IMPACT, DISCOVER and PROUD trials. In 2017 it launched ‘PrEP Shop’, selling PrEP through ‘additional private care’ with free NHS monitoring. PrEP Shop now sells the lowest price PrEP in the UK.

In the last few years, HIV diagnoses have dropped by over 80% at the clinic.

Since opening in 2009, 56 Dean Street, part of Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has grown to become Europe’s largest sexual health clinic. The service has driven down undiagnosed HIV by running health promotion campaigns to encourage regular testing and offering walk-in and outreach HIV testing in local bars and saunas. The clinic is an early adopter of new technologies such as the UK’s first 60 second HIV point of care test and was the first to launch NHS postal home HIV testing. On World AIDS Day 2010 it achieved the Guinness World record for HIV testing the highest number of people in 8 hours in G-A-Y Bar.