An audit of chaperone use for intimate examinations in an integrated sexual health clinic.

We performed an audit at the Edinburgh Chalmers Sexual Health Centre to examine if the use and documentation of chaperones complies with the guidance set out by the General Medical Council (GMC) and other regulatory bodies. The case-notes of patients seen in the non-specialist, morning clinics over a one-week period were studied. Only 20 of the 104 genital examinations undertaken were recorded as chaperoned. Only in five of the unchaperoned examinations was it documented that a chaperone was declined. Thus, a total of 24% patients had documentation regarding the presence of a chaperone or the offer of one. However, these results show that our department is certainly lacking in documentation of this, if not the use of chaperones itself. This falls short of the GMC guidance for good practice: primarily in place not only to protect patients from harm, but also to safeguard clinicians against false accusations of impropriety.