The GP Champions pilot project has shown how HIV care can be transformed when embedded in primary care.
Read our GP Champions Highlights
From January 2024 to March 2025, 16 GP Champions worked across London’s five Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) to improve HIV testing, reduce stigma, and better support people living with HIV. Working alongside HIV consultants and community organisations, these GPs helped to normalise HIV care as part of routine general practice.
Key insights from the pilot include:
- Increased HIV testing: A 29% rise in southwest London, driven by EMIS alerts, clinician training and opt-out approaches
- Stigma tackled through training: Over 2,025 primary care professionals trained on HIV and stigma
- Improved prevention: Statin prescribing increased by 56% in City and Hackney; a third of eligible patients started treatment in Islington
- Re-engagement in care: Hundreds of people living with HIV reconnected to services through audits, dashboards and targeted outreach
- Collaboration works: Closer relationships between GPs, consultants and community orgs supported more joined-up care
“We’ve built better relationships with secondary care and removed barriers to good HIV care.” – GP Champion
The evaluation identifies what made the model effective – GP-led flexibility, system partnerships and local innovation – as well as challenges, such as limited data consistency and lack of protected time for HIV consultants. Its recommendations include:
- Sustain and scale the model beyond the pilot
- Fund consultant involvement to reflect their essential role
- Create shared pan-London metrics
- Provide local incentives for practice engagement
- Reframe HIV as a long-term condition to support integration
“This holistic approach has improved HIV care by integrating treatment in a way which we hope will be replicated across other parts of the country.”
— Professor Yvonne Gilleece, Chair, BHIVA
Both our summary and the full evaluation are now available to read and share: