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An audit of triage was conducted between June and September 2003 in a district general hospital genitourinary medicine department to evaluate the appropriateness of triage criteria to identify those who require urgent intervention. We selected gonorrhoea (B1), chlamydia (C4a), gential herpes (C10a/b) and epidemiological treatment of contacts of B1 or C4a (C4e/B4) as conditions requiring urgent intervention. Eighty-eight percent met one or more of the criteria and were offered urgent appointments and 69% who did not meet the criteria were offered routine appointments. The incidences of B1, C4a, C10a/b and C4e/B4 were 26.5%, 21.2%, 16.8% and 8% respectively in the urgent group compared with corresponding incidences of 4.4% and 16.2% respectively in the routine group. No cases of C10a/b or C4e/B4 were seen in the latter group. Although triage criteria did not identify asymptomatic infections, efficient contact tracing will improve detection of asymptomatic carriers of infections and should be encouraged. The outcome of the audit informed modifications to the criteria and reinforced the need for staff training in triage. In the United Kingdom, genitourinary medicine must be urgently prioritized and invested in, to improve access to all who need to be seen within 48 h of contacting the service.