Hospitals failing to check for HIV, BBC reports

A report by the BBC has found that some hospitals and GP practices in England and Scotland are failing to carry out HIV checks.

It is recommended that patients in areas with high rates of HIV should be offered a test when they register with a GP or are admitted to hospital. The British HIV Association has also circulated UK-wide guidance directing that all men and women living in high-prevalence areas should be offered a HIV test on registration with their

GP or when they are admitted to a medical unit in hospital.

However, research carried out for the BBC’s You and Yours programme has suggested that many NHS providers are not doing this, with 82 per cent of hospitals in high-prevalence areas failing to offer the test in accordance with the guidelines.

The news comes as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently reviewing its guidance on HIV testing and is due to release its findings in December.

Official data shows: out of 152 local authorities responsible for public health in England, 54 are classed as high-prevalence areas; in Scotland, two out of 14 NHS boards count as high-prevalence areas; and there are none in Wales or Northern Ireland.

Dr Chloe Orkin, from the British HIV Association, said: "Testing for HIV is very cost-effective. Deaths due to late diagnosis are completely preventable through excellent treatments."

A Department of Health representative for England said: "Over the next five years, we will invest more than £16 billion in local government public health services.

"While councils have had to make savings, they have also shown that good results can be achieved at the same time, and are best placed to understand where money is best spent.”