England's HIV services face complex new environment

摘要

On April 1, 2013, a major transition in health care began in England through the Health and Social Care Act. The reform included the abolishment of National Health Service (NHS) primary care trusts (PCTs), which oversaw services at a regional level, with their local commissioning powers transferred to the 220 groups of general practitioners, called clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Sexual health services and HIV prevention (including HIV testing) was also transferred to the control of England's 353 local authorities (councils), who now find themselves negotiating directly with NHS and other providers to continue these services.