HIV testing in secondary healthcare settings - staff beliefs and concerns
Martin Weber1, Afra Barrett1, Fionnuala Finnerty1 Daniel Richardson1,2
1. Brighton & Sussex University NHS Trust
2. Brighton & Sussex Medical School
INTRODUCTION: Undiagnosed HIV remains a problem in the UK.  Locally, we have an extremely high prevalence of HIV (>8:1000).  BASHH, BHIVA and NICE recommend routine HIV testing in medical admissions in areas of high prevalence.  We wanted to identify current practices and knowledge of HIV testing in our large acute urban hospital trust. 
METHODS: An electronic survey of clinical staff was distributed via email and Trust website in November 2016. 
RESULTS: 42 responses were collected from 21/42(50%)nurses, 6/42(17%)medical staff and 15/42(36%)other staff. 33/42 of responses were from non-traditional settings (non-GUM, HIV, ID). 39/42(93%) agreed that HIV testing should be part of regular healthcare and most (32/42(76%))  agreed that it does not interfere with other healthcare services and (24/42(57%)) that they have the resources to perform a test 30/42 (75%) feel comfortable in discussing HIV with patients and 20/42 (71%) feel comfortable in offering and performing an HIV test. 18/42(43%) said they believed patients would be offended by offering an HIV test. 14/42(34%) do not know if patients receive adequate pre-test information, while 20/42 (48%) said patients are not receiving adequate post-test information. 17/42 (41%) do not know if test results are being given in an appropriate and confidential manner to patients.
CONCLUSION: Overall clinical staff believe that HIV testing is a good idea and does not interfere with the provision of regular health care services. However the clinical teams offering tests need more information on what pre and post-test discussion is required and how patients receive results.

HIV testing in tertiary healthcare settings – staff beliefs and concerns

The Joint Annual Conference of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV & the Society for the Study of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Ireland