Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to ensure integrated care systems deliver HIV healthcare programmes.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) services are open access and any adults with a diagnosis of HIV can self-refer, regardless of United Kingdom address. Any service diagnosing HIV in adults can refer to any specialised HIV service provider. This facilitates equitable access to care.
As set out in the NHS England Roadmap, specialised HIV inpatient and outpatient services have been identified as key areas for greater integrated care systems leadership by NHS England and integrated care boards (ICBs). Integrating the commissioning of HIV treatment services with ICBs, will allow local systems to simplify and strengthen HIV care pathways with other services through effective local partnerships, including in areas of higher deprivation.
The national Service Specification for Adult HIV services is also currently under review by NHS England. The Specification Working Group will ensure that the revised specification reflects any changes in practice since 2013, ensures close working with other relevant services, and is fit for purpose in the new commissioning landscape regardless of the level of deprivation in an area.
As part of the Government’s HIV Action Plan, a retention and re-engagement in care task and finish group was established in 2023. This group will provide advice on increasing the number of people retained and re-engaged in care and receiving effective medical care.
They will present their recommendations to the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group in due course, who will agree how the advice will be taken forward.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to introduce a sexual health strategy; and ensure adequate funding is in place to help reduce sexually transmitted infections.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We are committed to improving sexual heath in England and have published our HIV Action Plan in 2021 which sets out our ambitions and actions to achieve no new HIV transmission in England by 2030. Great progress has been made during the first year of its implementation, as set out by the annual report to Parliament published on 7 June, and we are considering the next steps needed to continue improving the sexual health of the whole population.
As part of this plan, we are investing more than £3.5 million from 2021 to 2024 to deliver the National HIV Prevention Programme for England, including National HIV Testing Week and other campaigns to improve information and testing for HIV and other STIs.
Sexual health services (SHSs) play a key public health role in diagnosis, early treatment and management of STIs and we are providing more than £3.5 billion to local authorities through the public health grant to fund public health services, including SHSs, in this financial year. Individual local authorities are responsible for and well placed to make funding and commissioning decisions about the SHSs that best meet the needs of their local populations.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce HIV transmissions in rural and coastal areas.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Local authorities in England are responsible for commissioning open access sexual and reproductive health services, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing, through the Public Health Grant, funded at £3.5 billion in 2023/24. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need and to commission the service lines that best suit their population.
As part of the Government’s HIV Action Plan, a low prevalence area task and finish group was established in 2023. This group will provide evidence on HIV control strategies in low prevalence areas, including understanding the impact of rurality on systems and patients. They will present their recommendations to the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group, who will agree how the advice will be taken forward.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis action plan.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
As part of our HIV Action Plan implementation, we are working together with key stakeholders to improve access to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention drug pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for key population groups. The HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group is working to develop a roadmap, based on the PrEP Access and Equity Task and Finish group’s recommendations, to help guide our efforts to improve equitable access to PrEP for key populations, including in settings other than specialist sexual health services.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing access to PrEP at community pharmacies.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
As part of the HIV Action Plan, we committed to supporting the system to continue to improve access to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention drug pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for key population groups.
A PrEP Access and Equity Task and Finish group was established in 2022 as part of the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group comprised of key delivery partners and sector stakeholders. The task and finish group has delivered recommendations on improving PrEP delivery for key population groups, including through community pharmacy, which are currently being considered.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure the safety of women and girls on public transport.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As part of the cross-government Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, the Department appointed two independent Violence Against Women and Girls Transport Champions, who published 13 recommendations as part of a review in March 2022. The Department is working closely with the Home Office and with the Department for Education to respond to the review to improve the safety of women and girls on transport. Since 2019, the British Transport Police has enhanced its approach to combatting VAWG, complemented by the Chief Constable’s own personal commitment.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce risks to the (a) physical and (b) mental health of participants in chemsex.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning substance misuse and sexual health services to meet local need. The Government has previously issued guidance for commissioners and providers of drug and alcohol services on meeting the physical and mental health needs of people who engage in Chemsex, this is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/substance-misuse-services-for-men-involved-in-chemsex
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities continues to support local areas to implement this guidance and to share good practice. Additionally, information on the risks of taking drugs associated with chemsex is available on the Government’s drug information service FRANK which signposts sources of support and advice.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department provides specific (a) guidance, (b) advice and (c) other support for people who participate in chemsex.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning substance misuse and sexual health services to meet local need. The Government has previously issued guidance for commissioners and providers of drug and alcohol services on meeting the physical and mental health needs of people who engage in Chemsex, this is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/substance-misuse-services-for-men-involved-in-chemsex
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities continues to support local areas to implement this guidance and to share good practice. Additionally, information on the risks of taking drugs associated with chemsex is available on the Government’s drug information service FRANK which signposts sources of support and advice.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of chemsex on the level of HIV transmission; and what data his Department holds on the number of HIV transmissions linked to chemsex in each of the last five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has a surveillance system that collects information related to people who have recently acquired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and asks questions in relation to recent sexual behaviour, including chemsex. Further interviews and analyses are underway. The report will be published in 2024. We do not hold data on the number of HIV transmissions linked to chemsex in each of the last five years.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether ambulance staff are provided with training on the potential impact of the practice of chemsex on patients.
Answered by Will Quince
Ambulance staff are trained to respond to a wide range of drug related presentations, which may include chemsex. Standards of proficiency, conduct and performance of registered professionals such as paramedics are the responsibility of independent healthcare regulators rather than Government. In the case of paramedics, this is the Health and Care Professions Council.