Justice For Chenai

posted: 24/08/2011

GHT is supporting a campaign for a Zimbabwean woman, Chenai Mudzamiri to stay in the UK.

Chenai fled from Zimbabwe and claimed asylum in the UK after she was brutally imprisoned, raped and
tortured for not actively supporting the ruling party, Zanu PF.  The Home Office have decided that she does not have a case for asylum, so she is at risk of deportation back to Zimbabwe.

Chenai has a well founded fear of persecution if she is returned to Zimbabwe. Deporting Chenai would breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits you from returning a person to face torture.

Please send a letter to the Home Secretary, which can be downloaded here.

You can also sign Chenai's e-petition here.

Thanks for your support.

Boaz Trust's Urgent Appeal for Volunteers

posted: 21/06/2011

The BOAZ Trust here in Manchester often finds hosts for GHT's destitute service users. Hosts are people with a spare room and big hearts! Some hosts take guests for a few days or weeks and others more long term.

GHT supports a number of men and women who are living with HIV who are homeless and literally destitute. They are people who have unsuccessfully applied for asylum. they live with the
constant fear that they may be forcibly returned to their country of origin where they may face torture or imprisonment and will struggle to get the ARV's thet they need to stay well and alive.

If you are interested in finding out more about being a Boaz host, contact Cat at the Boaz office on 0161 202 1056 or hosting@boaztrust.org.uk She will be happy to answer your questions and to arrange to meet with you to discuss the hosting process.

GHT's Trustees agree a Strategic Partnership Position Statement

posted: 02/06/2011

This position statement comes during the worst economic recession to impact on the voluntary sector in the UK in living history. As a consequence, many charities face significant funding cuts, some have already ceased trading and up to 50% of charities in the UK are not expected to survive the recession.

The Trustees of George House Trust (GHT) are particularly concerned about the future of HIV social care services for people living with HIV across the North West of England.There is a real danger that the strong legacy of the HIV social care sector could be lost.

GHT’s Trustees believe that it is vital that HIV social care provision is maintained for all people living with HIV.In order to achieve this, charities within the HIV sector in the North West, and across the UK if necessary, will need to explore dynamic and creative ways of working together strategically.

This work could take a number of forms: from greater sharing of information and knowledge through to pooling resources, joint funding applications, influencing commissioners, forming consortia in order to win contracts and mergers.

GHT welcomes opportunities to explore new ways of working with highly regarded charities within the HIV sector. This will help to ensure the survival of HIV social care services within the North West. 

Anyone requesting further details should contact our Chief Executive Rosie Robinson.

Spanish Online HIV Clinic Works

posted: 25/05/2011

A ‘Virtual HIV Clinic’ providing a full HIV care service online is a safe and feasible option for people with stable HIV, a new Spanish study from Barcelona shows.
 

People found their online HIV care satisfactory, and outcomes were comparable to people whose HIV care was provided in person at the clinic. It saved everyone time and money.
 

“The study shows that Virtual Hospital constitutes a feasible, fairly satisfactory and safe tool for the clinical care of stable HIV-infected patients,” write the authors; “it has no deleterious effect on HIV clinical parameters, antiretroviral compliance, quality of life, or psychological and emotional status.”
 

The future of HIV care for some here?

Online support looks promising development as another way of providing HIV care for some people. Many people in the UK already keep in contact with their clinic by email, and it can save time (and money for the NHS) to have home delivery of your anti-HIV drugs.

Rising clinic demand drives online clinic experiment

The outlook of many HIV-positive people has been transformed by antiretroviral therapy. However, this means an ever rising number of people being seen by HIV clinics and with the number of new people diagnosed each year means that many clinics are struggling to cope and keep costs for the NHS under control. Regular clinic appointments are inconvenient for some people, especially because of the distance and cost of travel and where there is a need to take time off work.
 

Clinically stable patients typically have check-ups every three to four months. These visits usually involve seeing a number of healthcare professionals including a specialist HIV doctor, nurse, phlebotomist and pharmacist. This means considerable time for both staff and people with HIV.
The hospital in Barcelona decided to see if providing routine HIV care by internet would help save everyone time and costs. They set up a Virtual Hospital to provide comprehensive HIV care by internet.
 

Video visits to the clinic doctor
Consultations with doctors were provided via video conferencing, and other healthcare professionals were also available via electronic media. HIV drugs were sent to people’s homes by courier.
 

Was it acceptable and safe?
They checked this by studying 83 patients. All were clinically stable and had a CD4 above 250. People taking HIV therapy who had a detectable viral load were not allowed to use the online clinic, nor were people who had cancers or active opportunistic infections.
To join the online experiment people had to have a home computer and broadband internet. They gave everyone 20 minutes training.
 

They randomly split the people into two groups. Half tried the online clinic and the other half carried on visiting the hospital. After a year, everyone swopped places – the people visiting the hospital trying the online clinic and vice versa, for another year.
People’s satisfaction, clinical outcomes, quality of life and psychological and emotional wellbeing were all measured.
 

Results good
Most (93%) were employed and 38% had a university degree. At the start, 55% were taking HIV treatments. 75 people completed both years in the study.
Satisfaction with the Virtual Hospital was high, and 85% of patients considered that it improved their access to clinical data compared to standard care. A similar proportion were comfortable with video conferencing as a way of consulting their HIV doctor. This system was rated as an easy way to communicate by 82% of users.
Overall, 69% of patients were satisfied with the online clinic.
 

There was no difference in clinical outcomes between users of the online clinic and regular clinic visitors. CD4 cell counts were comparable between both groups, as was the proportion of people with an undetectable viral load.
 

Some treatment switchers and starters
Just over a quarter of patients (28%) switched therapy, and 6% of individuals started HIV treatment for the first time. Rates of switching and starting treatment were comparable between the two study groups.
Treatment adherence rates were high, and did not differ between the two groups.
 

Quality of life and health constant
Use of the online clinic did not harm overall quality of life, or emotional and psychological wellbeing.

Setting up costs
Installing the hardware and software cost the clinic 50,000 euro, and the annual cost of the for each person was 120 euros.
 

Time savings
The investigators calculated that the average consultation using the online clinic took ten minutes, compared to the 60 to 90 minutes needed for a visit to the clinic.
“The Virtual Hospital has been shown to be a feasible and safe tool for providing multidisciplinary home care to chronic HIV patients,” comment the investigators, concluding: “telemedicine should be considered an appropriate support service for the entire management of chronic HIV infection, [and] is likely to prove extremely useful in settings with poor access to the health system.”
 

Source with reference details
 

Training - No Recourse to Public Funds

posted: 20/05/2011

No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) Training will be provided in Manchester on Tuesday 7th June (10am – 4.30pm) for Local Authority representatives with responsibilities for people with NRPF.

There will be NRPF training specifically for the voluntary sector in London, on 10th June. Details about Voluntary Sector NRPF Training are here

Voluntary sector people are also welcome at the Manchester training but in Manchester the training focuses on social services assessments.

This training is provided by the No Recourse to Public Funds network.

Limited places available

The cost of the training is £125 per person and will take place at Manchester City Council. Limited places are available. To book a place, please complete the booking form and return it to No Recourse to Public Funds at Islington. The training terms and conditions are here.

The Manchester training for local authority workers covers key issues, legislation and social services assessments, for adults, children and families, and includes human rights obligations.
 

• No recourse to public funds - introduction and overview
• Key legislation
• Assessing eligibility for support
• General considerations in assessments of need - adults, children and families, human rights
• Community care and community mental health assessments
• Child in need and human rights assessments
• Good practice in assessing and supporting people with NRPF
• National NRPF Network and the policy context of NRPF
• Case studies

Booking Form

Terms and Conditions

Enquiries and bookings to nrpf@islington.gov.uk

More information on the No Recourse to Public Funds training programme for Local Authorities

More information on the No Recourse to Public Funds training programme for Voluntary Sector

More information on No Recourse to Public Funds from the network

More information on No Recourse to Public Funds from UK Border Agency