Recommendations for partner notification are based on expert opinion from the National guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of gonorrhoea in adults, published by the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV [BASHH, 2005b].

Partner notification in primary care

• There is expert consensus that if referral to a GUM clinic (or to a general practice providing an enhanced sexual health service) is not possible, contact tracing should be undertaken in primary care, and this should be documented [Fitzgerald et al, 1996].

Period of partner notification

• The recommended periods for notification are consistent with what is known about the natural course of symptomatic infection with gonorrhoea [Handsfield and Sparling, 2005]. However, there is less certainty about the natural course of asymptomatic infection or infection at sites other than the genitals and rectum, and a period of 3 months is therefore advised as a precautionary measure [BASHH, 2005b].

Method of partner notification

• A Cochrane systematic review (search date: around 2001) found evidence that both provider and contract referral methods result in more partners presenting for medical evaluation compared with patient referral [Mathews et al, 2001]. However, in practice, provider referral can be difficult to organize, and most GUM clinics in the UK use patient referral as the contact method of first choice [Stokes and Schober, 1999].