§ Lord Clement-Jonesasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to encourage primary care trusts to improve services for sexual health and to reduce waiting times for accessing clinic services; and [HL846]
60WAWhether the amount of funding for sexual health services at a local level will be adequate, when this amount is determined by primary care trusts which have competing claims for resources. [HL847]
§ Baroness AndrewsThe Government are supporting primary care trusts' (PCTs) provision of sexual health services through theNational Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV. We have invested £47.5 million to implement the strategy and committed a further £20 million for each of the next two years. In addition, we have this year allocated a further £26.4 million to improve genito-urinary medicine (GUM), contraception services and HIV prevention. Funding is being allocated to PCTs to pump-prime improvements to services, targeting those areas most in need. This money is in addition to the main NHS allocations which, under Shifting the Balance of Power, PCTs now have the flexibility to use in the way which best meets the needs of local populations.
Each PCT now has a named sexual health lead who is responsible for taking forward the implementation of the sexual health strategy locally. To support PCTs in this role, the Department of Health has published toolkits of good practice for both commissioning sexual health services and undertaking sexual health promotion. Standards for the treatment of HIV have also been published, and further standards for sexual health are in preparation.
A pilot survey of waiting times in GUM will take place this year, with a view to introducing an annual national survey which will provide data to support a GUM waiting times indicator. These performance management and support measures will help to ensure implementation of the strategy at local level and that the necessary investment is made to modernise services where improvements are most needed.