Complexity Of Health System Is “Holding Back" HIV Care

As the Voice Online states, 30 per cent of people with HIV are aged 50 or over and this is projected to rise to 54 per cent by 2028. The report calls for much clearer and stronger leadership for HIV services, and for NHS organisations and councils to work together on HIV care in their area. It argues that sustainability and transformation plans provide an opportunity to do this and describes one area that is making good progress that others could learn from.

Because of this, health services need to focus on quality of life rather than just on suppressing the virus, and be coordinated with care for other long-term conditions common in older people.

Alex Baylis, Assistant Director of Policy for The King’s Fund, said: ‘Health care for people with HIV in England is among the best in the world and that is something we should be proud of. But this report is a warning that the labyrinthine structures created by the Health and Social Care Act makes it harder to keep the focus on meeting people’s needs and represent a real threat to future quality of care.

‘The health needs of people with HIV are changing rapidly, but health care for people with the condition is too fragmented to be able to keep up with this pace of change. The rising number of older people with HIV are more likely to need care from other parts of the health and social care system, and so joined up working will be vital to them getting the care they need.”