Londoners need a trendy sex clinic

Despite decades of pleading from doctors to take the nation's sexual health more seriously, the Government is only just getting round to addressing the issue.

Its answer, as is so often the case, is to throw money at the problem, and so bring on a shiny new walk-in centre in Soho, complete with designer wallpaper and wi-fi access.

The glossy brochure looks like an advert for a new Grouchoesque members' club and its pages boast that "the colours, finishes and quality of materials and furnishings have created an inviting, comfortable, reassuring and stylish environment".

My gut reaction was to groan at the vast sums of taxpayers' money wasted on hardwood flooring and Cole & Son's wallpaper instead of medical supplies but the great difference between sexual medicine and most other specialities is that its success relies on getting people through the door and screened, not on expensive drugs or high-tech equipment.

Many STIs do not cause any symptoms and so people need to volunteer themselves for regular screening if we are to get on top of the problem.

Most NHS clinics I've worked in were around the back of the main hospital building, seedy, dirty, badly lit and certainly not places you wanted to be seen coming out of. Even the discipline itself, ungraciously called veneriology, was part of the dermatologist's remit. It's now a glorious speciality in its own right.

This new clinic offers exactly the same services as most other GUM clinics but the big difference is that it is trendy and welcoming, even, dare I say it, "cool". Here's hoping that the bright young things agree with me and don't mind being seen coming out, for then our battle is half won.

Masks won't stop swine flu

I'm not worried. The media love a disaster and swine flu seems to fit the bill. It's a new virus that's never been seen before, we have no natural immunity to it and it's killing people.

But the same applies to seasonal flu every year. It is not a very virulent virus and running around town in a surgical mask will do nothing.

Masks are designed to stop you spreading your infection to others - they won't stop you catching the virus.

So unless you are ill, forget them. Here are my five top tips if you are still worried:

1) Wash your hands, wash your hands, and wash your hands. And again — wash your hands.

2) Stay at home if you are ill.

3) Avoid close contact with ill people.

4) Use tissues to cough and sneeze into and throw them away afterwards.

5) Get a flu jab every year from now on.