The Fast-Track Cities London Leadership Group is offering funding to cover one to two integrated care board (ICB) areas in London to deliver a coordinated programme of work designed to re-engage Londoners who are living with HIV back into care, on their medication and with an improved quality of life. The total grant pot is £450,000 for year one. There will be funding for years 2 and 3 dependent on agreed outcomes.
The partnership must show how they can achieve the following objectives:
- Trace and contact people living with HIV and not in care.
- Provide personalised support to people living with HIV to enable them to reprioritise their HIV care.
- Re-engage people with HIV who have been lost to care, back into clinical care and treatment.
- Improve quality of life for people living with HIV alongside re-engagement support.
The model of delivering this work should include the following aspects:
- Cleaning the data provided by UKHSA to remove people who are in care elsewhere, out of the country or deceased.
- Tracing and contacting people who remain on the list.
- Providing a referral pathway for people identified via the opt out testing in emergency departments programme.
- Providing appropriate support to meet the specific needs of individuals to improve the quality of their life and re-engage them with care, whether in-clinic or via remote access.
- A fund to provide practical support such as help with travel expenses, emergency food and childcare.
- A ‘learn and share’ approach to working with re-engagement leads across the city to shape and inform future service provision
To be successful, the consortium should include:
- HIV clinics (NHS Trusts) and staff, both in-clinic and outreach roles.
- Other NHS partners specialising in inclusion health or track and trace activities, for example NHS Find and Treat (this element is now being commissioned separately for London and will work with the programme going forward).
- Voluntary and community organisations to deliver peer support and to tackle identified barriers to re-engagement (such as stigma, mental health, drug/alcohol use, housing, poverty and immigration).
The deadline for bids is Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 12 noon
Download the grant specification for this programme.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs): re-engagement in care grant programme
1 Is there a word version of the application form and is there a word count?
Yes. This document is a text-only MS Word version of the application form. There is no maximum word count in the electronic form or the MS Word version.
2 Can NHS organisations apply on their own?
No, it’s very clear in the document that we are looking for consortiums or partnerships. It states in the grant document and on the web page that to be successful, the consortium should include:
- HIV clinics (NHS Trusts) and staff, both in-clinic and outreach roles.
- Other NHS partners specialising in inclusion health or track and trace activities, for example NHS Find and Treat.
- Voluntary and community organisations to deliver peer support and to tackle identified barriers to re-engagement (such as stigma, mental health, drug/alcohol use, housing, poverty and immigration).
3 Can voluntary and community organisations apply on their own?
See answer 2 above.
4 Who should be the lead partner for the funding?
This can be an NHS or a voluntary and community organisation; there is no preference. However, what should be clear is what the grant will be used for and how it will be divided up. The document states under section 3. Finance and Monitoring:
The proposal from a consortium/partnership should include the proposed management of the grant money in terms of payments and distribution among the VCSO and NHS partners.
5 Will we prioritise areas with higher rates of disengagement vs lower?
No this is not part of the criteria; higher numbers do not necessarily reflect higher inequalities.
6 Will the funding be continued?
Yes, we expect there to be funding in 26/27 and 27/28. Additional funding will be based on delivering agreed outcomes for people living with HIV.
7 How large an area it should cover, if an ICB patch, should it include every clinic?
We would like to see clinics across an ICB area working together as much as possible, however this is not an essential part of the criteria as the ICBs differ in size and numbers of clinics.
8 Do NHS Find and Treat have to be in the bid if there is already a tracking procedure in place locally?
- No, they do not, however we want to see evidence of how the partnership will engage people completely out of care. The grant document states the following:
Can the bid show they can deliver the following aspects of the model?
1. Cleaning the data provided by UKHSA to remove people who are in care elsewhere, out of the country or deceased.
2. Tracing and contacting people who remain on the list.
3. Providing a referral pathway for people identified via the opt out testing in emergency departments programme.
4. Providing appropriate support to meet the specific needs of individuals to improve the quality of their life and re-engage them with care, whether in-clinic or via remote access.
5. A fund to provide practical support such as help with travel expenses, emergency food and childcare.
6. A ‘learn and share’ approach to working with re-engagement leads across the city to shape and inform future service provision.
9 How much funding is available?
£450,000 for Year 1, with expected recurrent funding for up to two additional years, subject to outcomes.
10 How many partnerships will be funded?
One to two partnerships will be funded to run pilot programmes in different areas of London.
11 Is an NHS–Voluntary Sector partnership mandatory?
Yes. Applications without both NHS and voluntary sector partners will be automatically disqualified.
12. Is this funding for all of London?
No. Funding is for pilot areas only, with the intention that learning will inform London-wide and national approaches.
13 Is this a fixed service model?
No. This is a quality improvement programme. Applicants are not expected to submit a perfect or fully formed model at the start.
14 What activities are expected to be included?
Applicants should describe how they will:
- Trace people genuinely out of care
- Engage them back into care using personalised approaches
- Support long-term retention in care
15 How will data challenges (mobility, GDPR, cross-borough care) be handled?
These challenges are acknowledged and are a key area for system-level problem-solving during the programme.
16 Are GP Champions part of this grant?
No. GP Champions will be commissioned separately, so bids do not need to include primary care funding.
17 Can mental health trusts and substance misuse services be included?
Yes. Partnerships are encouraged to include or link with mental health, drug and alcohol, and other relevant services.
18 Will voluntary sector services be paid?
Yes. There is no expectation that voluntary sector partners absorb additional demand without funding.
19 Is chemsex support considered relevant?
Yes. Chemsex is recognised as a major factor in disengagement from care, and relevant organisations are encouraged to be included.
20 How will quality of life be measured?
Through the development or use of standardised wellbeing measures, building on existing tools from Getting to Zero and other programmes.
21 How often will partnership meetings take place?
Likely monthly for the first 6 months, then less frequently once the model stabilises.
22 Will there be an external evaluation?
Yes. An external evaluation will be commissioned separately to assess effectiveness and learning.
23 Does the programme aim to reduce postcode inequalities?
Yes, but with realism. The programme aims to reduce barriers and improve equity, while acknowledging it cannot fully eliminate structural inequalities.
24 When will the programme start?
Expected early April, subject to procurement timelines.
25 Will there be a deadline extension?
Yes, the deadline has been extended to Wednesday 18 February at 12 noon.
26As this is a quality improvement programme and the outcomes are not fixed at this point, should we offer a couple of funding options in our application? For example, bronze, silver and gold levels of funding?
This is a great question. Given the above statement about this being a quality improvement programme, applications can include more than one option for funding.
27 Will additional resources be available aside from this grant funding?
There is additional funding in year 2 and 3 available for the re-engagement programme dependent on outcomes and issues/opportunities that arise from the quality improvement approach to working. FTCI London will also be looking for additional funding opportunities to increase resources for this work.
28 Is there a way to attach documents to the online application form?
No, you can paste things into the online application form, but you can’t attach anything. However, you’re very welcome to email over your application form with any attachments, both forms of application are acceptable.