Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Deferred
Paragraph: 52
Set out impact of Patient Safety Alerts on private prescribing and enforcement measures.
Recommendation
In their response to this report, the Government should set out what impact it believes National Patient Safety Alerts have on private prescribing and what scrutiny and enforcement measures are in place to ensure private prescribers adhere to these alerts.
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the point but then discusses the new HIV Action Plan for 2025-30 and PrEP access, mentioning pilot studies for PrEP delivery, without addressing the impact of National Patient Safety Alerts on private prescribing or their enforcement.
Paragraph Reference:
52
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The committee raises an interesting and valuable point. HIV is a key priority for the Government, and we have commissioned a new HIV Action Plan for 2025-30, to achieve no new HIV transmissions with England by 2030. This is aimed to be published in summer 2025. The new HIV Action Plan, which is currently being developed by DHSC, UKHSA and NSHE in close collaboration with local government, community and voluntary sector partners and people with lived experience, will look at this data and consider what are the key actions needed to support the groups disproportionately affected by HIV and ensure we continue on track to meet our 2030 goals. Access to PrEP will be considered under Objective 1: Ensure equitable access and uptake of HIV prevention programmes. The feasibility of PrEP delivery via pharmacies is being piloted by University of Bristol, National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West) and the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Behavioural Science and Evaluation (HPRU) at the University of Bristol. As set out in our manifesto, this Government is committed to moving to a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered in local communities. Access to PrEP is based on criteria set out in clinical guidelines which allow clinicians to prescribe following a consideration of the patient’s risks and a number of initiation and monitoring tests. This recommendation, along with others, will be reviewed alongside the existing clinical guidelines and emerging evidence from the pilot study referenced above, and considered as we look to introduce neighbourhood health in the future and shift to deliver more care in local communities.