Guide for GPs About HIV

posted: 19/05/2011

The popular booklet HIV in Primary Care has a brand new edition ideal for the many GPs unfamiliar with HIV, to help GPs provide high quality care for people living with HIV.

Tell your GP to use this
People living with HIV can help their GP provide better healthcare by telling them about this booklet – it is free to download from MedFASH, or doctors can buy a copy for only £10.

Diagnose and Test

With over a quarter people with HIV in the UK still undiagnosed, the new booklet HIV in Primary Care will help doctors and practice nurses to consider HIV as a possible diagnosis and to test new patients. Testing all new patients is advised in the UK National Guidelines for HIV Testing, which recommend the routine offer of HIV testing for patients with certain conditions or risk factors, and particularly in areas such as Greater Manchester and Blackpool, where HIV prevalence is high.

Better care for patients with HIV

GPs can also help improve their services accessible to people living with HIV by reassuring patients about confidentiality in their practices and by making links with local HIV clinics.

As well as covering testing, the booklet also offers up-to-date information on primary healthcare for patients with HIV, covering day-to-day issues such as contraception, immunisation and cervical screening, as well as side-effects of HIV antiretroviral drugs and potential drug interactions.

GPs who have traditionally not had any or much contact with patients with HIV will see more people with HIV in their surgeries for non-HIV-related problems, because HIV clinics are no longer providing general medical care.

Doctor says
Dr Surinder Singh, a GP from Deptford in London and co-author of the booklet, said: “With the move toward shared care models for people with long-term conditions, GPs will undoubtedly find themselves dealing with people with HIV. In fact it is no more difficult than managing patients with diabetes. The essential element is trust. Ensuring that patients feel confident to disclose their positive HIV status is key, and we hope this booklet will give GPs the information they need to feel confident to provide primary care for HIV-positive patients. Remember that the local HIV specialist unit is available to answer questions from GPs.”

Over 25,000 copies of the first edition of HIV in Primary Care have been distributed since its launch in 2004 and it has received excellent feedback from users.

Getting HIV in Primary Care booklet

Copies can be obtained from MedFASH at £10 per copy, or it can be downloaded free of charge  from MedFASH.
 

The direct download link is here

HIV in Primary Care: an essential guide for GPs, practice nurses and other members of the primary healthcare team by Dr Sara Madge, Dr Philippa Matthews, Dr Surinder Singh and Dr Nick Theobald.

Drs Matthews and Singh are practicing GPs, Drs Madge and Theobald are HIV specialists with a background in general practice. All the authors are involved in GP education.

New HIV Mental Health Standards

posted: 08/04/2011

The first standards for mental health services for adults living with HIV are now out for public comments, until the end of May.

The new Standards for psychological support for adults living with HIV  were written by a team of experts, with the help of patients’ representatives and the HIV community sector, including George House Trust, Terrence Higgins Trust and NAT (National AIDS Trust).

The new standards describe the care that adults living with HIV should expect to receive from all the services providing mental health and psychological support, from any time after HIV diagnosis. These are not designed for children and teenagers with HIV, but it is hoped that standards for younger people will soon follow.

Psychological support means ‘any form of support which is aimed at helping people living with HIV to enhance their mental health and their cognitive and emotional wellbeing’. Mental health support comes in lots of different ways and not just from experts.

Many people with receive really valuable support from other people living with HIV – at services such as spaces, groups, weekends, which is known as 'peer support'. Experts like psychologists and other professionals (counsellors, nurses, psychiatrists and others) working in HIV clinics, at doctors surgeries and other clinics, as well as in HIV and other community services, provide more specialist support, treatment and help.

Stepped Care and 9 Standards

The standards follow a four-stage 'Stepped Care' model, to match people's growing psychological support needs, as these get more serious and complex. 

• Standard 1: promotion of mental health and wellbeing
• Standard 2: support at the time of diagnosis
• Standard 3: screening
• Standard 4: competence to provide psychological support
• Standard 5: comprehensive psychological support services
• Standard 6: co-ordination of psychological support
• Standard 7: evidence-based practice
• Standard 8: evaluation and audit
• Standard 9: engagement of people living with HIV
   

Say what you think

Comments on the draft standards are very welcome from anyone with experience (good or bad) of using or providing mental health support for people living with HIV. They’d like people to use their special form for your response. This helps by asking questions, and gives you space for any general comments on the whole standards, and on each of the 9 standards.

The standards should be used by the people deciding what mental health support services for people with HIV are provided in each district and by the people providing those services for checking their services are up to the standards.

The Standards

Please use this consultation response form and send your comments to MedFash by 5.00pm on Tuesday 31st May 2011.

These standards are a joint initiative of the Faculty for HIV & Sexual Health of the Division of Clinical Psychology of the British Psychological Society (BPS), the British HIV Association (BHIVA) and the Medical Foundation for AIDS & Sexual Health (MedFASH).

New Government Mental Health Strategy - No Health Without Mental Health

Nine standards for sexual health

posted: 21/01/2010

New standards for sexual health services aim to give everyone quality care wherever people live.
The launch of the new standards, including a leaflet version, “Standards for the management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)” the first of their kind, come from the Medical Foundation for AIDS & Sexual Health (MedFash) and the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH). Leading professional groups involved in STIs and the Health Protection Agency have given them support.

Patient service quality leaflet too
The nine standards - a guide for all health staff and NHS commissioners - cover all aspects of STI management, from diagnosis and treatment to infection control. Importantly there is a leaflet for patients, explaining the quality of care you have a right to expect, such as being offered an appointment within 48 hours, and ‘open access’ to services (meaning you can use the service without needing to see your GP first).

Dr Immy Ahmed, former president of BASHH and Project Clinical Lead for the standards said:
“Through increased investment and innovations, significant achievements in STI services have been realised in recent years. These new standards represent a consolidation of best practice and the challenge now is for commissioners and STI providers to focus all our efforts on working together and implementing these standards effectively.”

Nine standards
The nine standards have been drawn up to help with commissioning STI services within a clinical network – there are three sexual health networks in NW England. Networks support specialists and community and primary care healthcare staff to work well together. If you want consistent high quality services, this is how it has to be done.

“There is now increased patient choice and wider availability of testing and treatment for STIs, and the aim is to put patients at the centre of their care. However, as highlighted in the 2008 review of the sexual health strategy undertaken by MedFASH for the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV, local implementation of the strategy is very variable,” explains Ruth Lowbury, Chief Executive of MedFASH.
”The standards, which include key performance indicators, are an important tool for commissioners and providers to set measurable performance criteria and monitor outcomes for their services, whether in NHS acute, community or primary care settings, or commissioned from the independent or third sectors.”
 

Baroness Gould, Chair of the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV commented: “The high rates of sexual ill health in the UK means local leadership is required to ensure STI management is adopted and maintained as a public health priority. These standards, with universal implementation, can bring about significant cost savings for the NHS by preventing re-infection, reducing transmission, and making the very most of the resources available.”
The launch of the standards is also timely as it directly follows the 2010/11 NHS Operating Framework, which places quality as the organising principle of the NHS.

The standards and leaflet are available to download from MedFash

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