Our Lead Consultant, Dr Steve Taylor, appeared on BBC Radio WM this evening to talk to the station’s Joe and Nikki programme about the particular challenges faced by the African and Caribbean communities when seeking to test for, diagnose and treat HIV. Dr Taylor also spoke about the TakeATestUK service, which is currently offering free
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HIV Team at Pride
The team from Heartlands HIV Service is at Birmingham’s PRIDE event this weekend, promoting good sexual health – and offering free postal HIV tests thanks to the people at TakeATestUK. TakeATestUK, formerly known as HIVTestUK, is managed by the national HIV charity Saving Lives, and they are currently offering free postal tests to anyone with a
Improvements To Your Service
We are always looking at ways of improving the service we offer you, in a way that is financially astute and adheres to recommended guidelines, such as monitoring and delivery of care. We would like to inform you about the following changes. You can also download this information as a printable PDF by clicking here. Blood Tests You
Government Response to PrEP Petitioners
The Government is issuing a response to all those who sign a petition asking that PrEP be made immediately available on the NHS, following NHS England’s decision of a few weeks ago: NHS England have agreed to carefully consider their position on commissioning Pre-exposure Prophylaxis. The Government is investing £2.4m in HIV prevention nationally. The
NHS England’s Decision on PrEP
The NHS this week announced it had abandoned any plans to offer Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP. In a statement, NHS England said: As set out in the Local Authorities (Public Health Functions and Entry to Premises by Local Healthwatch Representatives) Regulations 2013, local authorities are the responsible commissioner for HIV prevention services. Including PrEP for consideration
What is PrEP? And where Can I Get It?
We recently added a PrEP page to our Treatment section. We understand the interest people have in PrEP, and if your want to talk to about the treatment, then our HIV health advisers would be happy to talk to you. We do not, however, currently offer PrEP. There is an excellent website for more information: iwantprepnow.co.uk launched on 5th
Midlands and East Prescribing Implementation Guidelines
The Midlands and East Prescribing Implementation Guidelines are now available for comment. The draft guidelines have been available to clinicians and patient groups for comment since the beginning of February 2016. We have asked for permission to put the next version of the draft guidance online for comment, and they can now be seen in
Psychological Services: A Patient’s Guide
We offer a full range of psychological services to our patients here at the Heartlands HIV Service. These are optional, but we believe also extremely important. To help patients – and you! – understand these services better, our team has produced a short guidebook. This leaflet takes you through what the services are, how they can
Women’s Group Lunchtime Meetings
We have recently been developing a Women’s Group at the Heartlands HIV Service. Intended for women living with HIV, and based on feedback from patients, the group aims to help patients wanting to meet other women living with HIV in an informal environment. We have had five sessions of this group so far, and it
Public Health England: HIV in the UK
Public Health England published its most recent annual HIV Report in November 2015. These figures represent findings for the full year of 2014. You can download a PDF of the full report here. Key findings for 2014 [peekaboo name=”1″] [peekaboo_content name=”1″] Overall, the number of people living with HIV in the UK continues to increase and