HIV drug prescribing in London

The NHS in London announced last month that the way anti-HIV drugs are prescribed would be changing.

HIV treatment is very cost-effective, but it is also very expensive. Saving money on the cost of drugs is a way of making the total budget for HIV treatment and care go further (to avoid reducing clinic services, for example).

The London HIV Consortium has made it clear that doctors should “continue to ensure treatment is tailored to the needs of the individual patient”, with cost only taken into account when it is “clinically appropriate”. But there are some concerns among people with HIV and the organisations representing them about what these changes will mean in practice.

We’ve been asked by other HIV organisations to co-ordinate information on the changes and we have put together a new webpage.

Visit the HIV drug prescribing in London webpage >>

The page gives a summary of the changes and then two factsheets, which can be read online or downloaded as PDFs for printing. We are happy for these factsheets to be distributed and shared.

We’ve also added recent news stories about the changes, quick links to in-depth information on the relevant drugs and external links to relevant information from other organisations.

We will update this page as new information becomes available – the London HIV Consortium is meeting on the 25^th May, so there may be new information after that meeting.

If you have any feedback on this page, comments on either of the factsheets, suggestions for other aspects of the prescribing changes that we should cover, or other information you would find useful, please let us know.

We’re also keen to hear from anyone who has spoken to their doctor about the changes – any information you provide us with will be kept strictly confidential.

You can contact us by commenting below, emailing info@nam.org.uk, filling in our online form, or by calling 020 7837 6988.

This is all very confusing and stress making. When starting treatment I took a long time to decide which treatment I thought was the best for me. Although the reports say that those in treatment will stay on their regimen, it seems it wont be long before that changes and the decisions I made about my treatment will be taken away from me and given to an accountant!