Newcastle Hospitals has signed up to become a founding NHS member of ‘HIV Confident’ – a new HIV anti-stigma charter.
The charter, led by National AIDS Trust, aidsmap, and Positively UK, aims to tackle stigma and discrimination in the workplace, so that patients and staff living with HIV know that they can access our services – or work for us – with confidence and without fear of discrimination.
Newcastle Hospitals is the only non-London NHS Trust to be included in this pilot and to become HIV confident is:
- Carrying out a review of staff knowledge and attitudes across the Trust with the results to follow shortly.
- Reviewing and, where necessary, updating its policies and procedures around employment, health and safety, and data protection.
- Piloting and rolling out an anti-stigma eLearning package for all staff.
- Establishing clear reporting processes for patients and staff who encounter stigma, so that the trust can address stigma where it occurs.
- Carrying out a follow-up evaluation to monitor and measure the impact of this work.
The trust’s director of patient and staff experience, Annie Laverty, who is the executive sponsor for HIV Confident, said:
“We’re incredibly proud to be working with our partners to develop HIV Confident. As a public sector organisation we have a key role in tackling societal HIV stigma, which still impacts the quality of life and psychological wellbeing of so many people living with HIV.
By increasing confidence in – and within – our healthcare services across Newcastle Hospitals, we can help to ensure that people living with HIV can access the best possible care that meets their needs and improve their day-to-day experiences.
Joining this important journey represents a significant step in making sure people are treated with dignity and respect, that they feel safe and supported, and accessing testing and treatment all becomes easier irrespective of their HIV status.”
Consultant physician in infectious diseases, Ashley Price, added: “People who are living with HIV are still experiencing stigma, this happens in both in the community and in health care.
“By signing up to the HIV charter we are ensuring that our staff and the wider community gain a better understanding of HIV. This will ensure that people living with HIV are not treated differently.
“We now know that people living with HIV on treatment have a normal life expectancy. Once on treatment with an undetectable viral load people living with HIV cannot transmit HIV to anybody – undetectable=untransmissible.”
For further information about the HIV Confident Charter mark visit the website
