Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of monkeypox on the availability of health service appointments for prescribing the HIV prevention drug PrEP.
Answered by Maggie Throup
While no specific assessment has been made, we will monitor the impact of monkeypox on these services.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has made to measure HIV stigma since the publication of the HIV Action Plan.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The HIV Action Plan commits to the development of a plan to increase innovation in the delivery of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), improving access for key groups, including provision in settings outside of sexual and reproductive health services. The plan will be based on evidence from the findings of work the English Sexual Health and HIV Commissioners group are undertaking with potential PrEP users and providers, which will explore the acceptability and feasibility of delivering PrEP in settings such as drug and alcohol services and pharmacies.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are also developing a pilot for accessing PrEP in prisons. Timelines for taking forward the Action Plan will be published in the monitoring and evaluation framework in 2022. The framework will include key indicators, including those on addressing stigma, to be monitored at national, regional and local levels.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his timeline is for developing a plan to drive innovation in PrEP delivery under the HIV Action Plan; and which groups his Department plans to engage and consult on that plan.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The HIV Action Plan commits to the development of a plan to increase innovation in the delivery of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), improving access for key groups, including provision in settings outside of sexual and reproductive health services. The plan will be based on evidence from the findings of work the English Sexual Health and HIV Commissioners group are undertaking with potential PrEP users and providers, which will explore the acceptability and feasibility of delivering PrEP in settings such as drug and alcohol services and pharmacies.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are also developing a pilot for accessing PrEP in prisons. Timelines for taking forward the Action Plan will be published in the monitoring and evaluation framework in 2022. The framework will include key indicators, including those on addressing stigma, to be monitored at national, regional and local levels.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve the support Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) mental health services can offer people living with HIV, through better training on HIV issues for IAPT staff; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing an IAPT-LTC pathway for HIV.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Under the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing £2.3 billion each year in mental health services including expanding access to Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services to a total of 1.9 million adults a year by 2023/24, including people living with long term conditions such as HIV.
While we have no current plans to make a formal assessment of a potential IAPT pathway for HIV, we would expect that treatment services, such as HIV clinics, would take patients’ mental health needs into account as part of their overall care.
We are publishing a HIV Action Plan on 1 December 2021, which will set out plans for HIV services, including on mental health.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to tackle HIV stigma in the health service through improved training for the workforce.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The HIV Action Plan is planned for publication on 1 December 2021. The Government’s policy on issues related to HIV, such as equitable access to testing and treatment and tackling HIV-related stigma and health disparities, will be addressed in the Action Plan.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce the number of people who leave sexual health services without being offered or taking up a HIV test.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The HIV Action Plan is planned for publication on 1 December 2021. The Government’s policy on issues related to HIV, such as equitable access to testing and treatment and tackling HIV-related stigma and health disparities, will be addressed in the Action Plan.