The proposed NHS restructure you haven’t read about

The proposed NHS restructure you haven’t read about

NHS
NHS England is now looking at making changes to how 'specialised services' like HIV are commissioned. Depending on the approach they take, it could amount to what is effectively another restructure of the current system - but they aren't giving a lot of details.

PrEP - What went wrong? What should happen?

PrEP - What went wrong? What should happen?

Rarely has a u-turn, rarely has a breach of trust, been so misleadingly announced. Reading NHS England’s press release, ‘Update on commissioning and provision of PrEP for HIV prevention’ (21 March 2016), you would think the NHS were simply clarifying progress to date and the well understood responsibilities for the commissioning of PrEP. In fact this press release was the announcement of a shocking U-turn as NHS England suddenly abandoned its own process for the approval of PrEP, just before its conclusion, with nothing to replace it bar some loose change found down the back of the sofa.

Why Doesn’t NHS England Want to Be Responsible for Preventing HIV?

Why Doesn’t NHS England Want to Be Responsible for Preventing HIV?

In March 2015, Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, announced the first national diabetes prevention programme. Reflecting on the potential for the NHS to reduce the future costs of diabetes care by supporting people to lose weight, exercise and eat better, he said that "if these results were from a pill we'd doubtless be popping it

New HIV figures show NHS is failing in its public health responsibilities.

New HIV figures show NHS is failing in its public health responsibilities.

Publication date

Thursday, November 21, 2013
New statistics from Public Health England (PHE) show that 98,400 people were living with HIV in UK at the end of 2012. The figures point to ongoing failures of frontline health services to support at-risk groups through regular HIV testing. 

The NHS will now consider putting PrEP back into the NHS decision-making process following the threat of legal action from the National AIDS Trust (NAT)

The NHS will now consider putting PrEP back into the NHS decision-making process following the threat of legal action from the National AIDS Trust (NAT)

Publication date

Tuesday, April 19, 2016
On 21 March, NHS England announced it was pulling the plug on its decision-making process on whether to make PrEP available (an HIV prevention drug, proven to be effective in stopping HIV transmission in almost every case if taken properly). This was after 18 months of hard work which demonstrated the need, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of PrEP from an NHS working group comprising experts from across the HIV sector.