Standards for HIV Clinical Care

A new report from four leading medical organisations calls for new patterns of care for patients with HIV and builds on existing treatment guidelines by setting out recommendations for who should provide HIV care and how services should be organised. Existing services are resulting in late, missed or mistaken diagnosis and inappropriate treatment and the report states that HIV care should be delivered through managed clinical networks. It recommends two distinct kinds of service: - 1. HIV units providing outpatient care for the majority of patients with uncomplicated HIV infection 2. A single-site or virtual HIV centre in each network that provides services for patients with more specialised needs including complex outpatient care, inpatient care and referral/advice services for the network as a whole The report makes recommendations on commissioning, service networks and levels of care; clinical training, experience and commitment; records and information sharing; the patient journey and implementation and audit