Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that people living with HIV in residential social care do not face stigma and discrimination because of their HIV or any associated status, such as being a member of the LGBT+ community.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Everyone has the right to safe, high-quality care, which protects people's health, wellbeing, and human rights, and which enables them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect. Any form of abuse or neglect is unacceptable, and we are committed to ensuring that we have an effective safeguarding system where risk of harm is identified, acted upon effectively, and ultimately prevented.

Providers are required by law to protect people from abuse and discrimination, including homophobic and transphobic abuse, and the Care Quality Commission will take appropriate enforcement action where they have failed in their duties.

The new HIV Action Plan, published on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2025, sets out how the Government will enable every level of the healthcare system to work together to engage everyone in prevention, testing and treatment, tackling stigma, and reaching our ambition to end new HIV transmissions by 2030. This includes a dedicated action to ensure all health and social care staff have the right knowledge on HIV and can tackle stigma and discrimination. This will be achieved at a local, sub-regional, and regional level by embedding HIV education into workforce development programmes, safeguarding training, and induction processes.

Found: Lord Cashman