Local Authorities will take over control of Public Health services from PCTs when they are abolished. These are the types of services which help you to stay healthy and avoid getting ill, in other words preventative health care such as help with stopping smoking, diet and fitness.
Local Authorities will therefore be responsible for commissioning sexual health services including HIV prevention and HIV testing services. A new body, Public Health England, will be set up to coordinate public health work nationally including responsibility for prevention initiatives in sexual health that require a country-wide response.
Increased HIV testing will be part of local HIV prevention strategies in areas of high prevalence. This should lead to tests being offered more often and in more settings such as GP surgeries, Accident and Emergency departments and community settings in particular areas of cities like London, Manchester and Brighton.
The Government has identified that health care and prevention services should be integrated and Local Authorities will face the challenge of ensuring that commissioning is not fragmented. Local Authorities have the potential to be successful at this type of commissioning as many of the factors influencing poor sexual health, such as social deprivation, social care and education, are also within their remit.
Timeline for developing Public Health England.
Coordinating and Integrating Services
As a result of the planned changes, HIV services will be commissioned at two very different ends of the health spectrum. HIV health care and treatments in England will be commissioned by the national NHS Commissioning Board and on the other hand HIV testing, STI services and HIV prevention services will no longer be funded by the NHS at all but by local authorities.
How the NHS Commissioning Board will coordinate its HIV work with the rest of HIV preventative health and social care is still to be fully established, although the board will be required to consult patients, carers and the public in their commissioning decisions. It may be that some aspects of health services may be devolved further.