Three Integrated Care Boards in the East of England are offering a grant of £262,000 for 12 months to a provider, or partnership of providers, to deliver HIV peer support for people with HIV diagnosed through Emergency Department opt out testing within the East of England, ensuring equal access for their patients.
This initiative aims to:
- Improve the quality of life and well-being of people living with HIV.
- Support the retention of people diagnosed with HIV in care and treatment, and support re-engaging those who are no longer accessing services.
Partnership bids are encouraged, particularly where HIV sector organisations can demonstrate increased capacity through a collaborative partnership approach.
Background
The HIV Action Plan 2021 sets out a programme to achieve the government’s commitment that by 2030 we will have achieved zero HIV transmissions in England. Emergency Department (ED) opt out testing in very high areas of diagnosed HIV prevalence will play an important part in helping to reach this target. Opt out testing is confirmed to be effective both in identifying and linking to care those people living with HIV who were unaware of their diagnosis or previously diagnosed but not in care.
Significant inequalities still exist in identifying and treating those living with HIV, HCV and HBV and addressing these inequalities is paramount if we are to achieve the government’s commitment. Tackling these challenges requires reaching those who do not test in traditional settings such as sexual health clinics, either because people are not accessing the service or not being offered tests when they attend. Vulnerable people disproportionately attend EDs therefore opt out testing at scale in EDs is a key intervention to meet this need.
The HIV Commission report 2020, supported by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, National AIDS Trust and Terrence Higgins Trust also recommended ‘test, test, test’, especially in EDs.
On World AIDS Day 2021, the then Secretary of State for Health committed £20m over 3 years to expand opt-out HIV testing in EDs in very high diagnosed HIV prevalence areas. In partnership with NHS England Hepatitis C Elimination team, the project was expanded to test for hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) and 34 sites launched on the 1st April 2022 (wave 1).
On World AIDS Day 2023, the then Secretary of State for Health committed a further £20m to a NIHR funded research project to examine the impact of expansion of ED testing to areas of high diagnosed HIV prevalence – a further 46 sites (wave 2). The funding also included funding for HIV community peer support.
ICBs within the East of England have joined forces to use NHIR funding to commission a single HIV Peer Support service, which will provide a consistent peer support offer to patients across the region.
To be considered, bidders must meet the following criteria:
- Collaborate effectively with relevant HIV sector providers, NHS organisations, and local authorities where appropriate to deliver the proposed initiative(s).
- Clearly demonstrate how their proposal delivers the requirements outlined in the specification.
- Provide robust quarterly reports on activity and quality, supported by suitable metrics, including:
- Progress updates on service mobilisation, highlighting any risks or issues affecting progress
- Number of patients referred to the service, broken down by sites
- Number of patients engaging with and taking up support, broken down by sites
- Deliver a comprehensive evaluation summarising the activities undertaken, service quality, patient benefits, key learnings, and opportunities for improvement. NB: The BNHIVA Standards of Care 2018 can be used as an auditing tool.
- Demonstrate the capacity, competency, and capability to deliver agile and responsive initiatives over the 12-month period, with proven ability to foster effective partnerships.
- Present a flexible project plan detailing how the initiative will address health inequalities and reach underserved communities to ensure that people living with HIV are at the heart of the initiative through co-design and culturally competent service delivery.
Read the full specification here: HIV Peer Support specification
What is the procurement process?
The service will be commissioned through a grant administered by the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of Transformation Partners in Health and Care, who itself is acting on behalf of the East of England ICBs.
How will the bids be assessed?
The panel will include a representative for each of the ICBs in the East of England, a representative from the East of England Regional Specialised Commissioning team and a service user.
How to apply?
Please fill in this microsoft office form application.
The deadline for the grant application is midday on Thursday 13th March 2025.
If you have any technical questions about the application process, please email rf-tr.londonftci@nhs.net.
If you have any questions about the grant, please email Karen.Hayton@nhs.net.
Frequently asked questions
1. How many people will be coming to the service?
As a guide to the scale of the service required, new diagnoses data for the relevant local authorities for 2023 is as follows:
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough = 121
Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes = 169
Mid and South Essex = 168
Total of 458 people
(Source: Fingertips)
2. There is not enough time to do proper community engagement in the local area.
Given the tight turnaround we want to be clear that there would not be an expectation that applicants could have everything in place when making the bid, but that it would be more about the approach to developing and delivering local partnership working.