Accessing HIV Services with Chris O'Hanlon, Dr Nicola Mackie, Dr Stuart Flanagan, Dr Richard Ma and Shaun Watson.

Positively UK Podcast

In this weeks podcast we discuss accessing HIV services during the pandemic and thereafter. Following on from our online discussion, we brought your questions to the panel to find out more on the issues that affect people living with HIV. As services adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic, many services changed to telephone and online appointments. You can find a full list of resources and support organisations in our show notes below.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Dr Stuart Flanagan is a Consultant in GU/HIV & Blood Borne Virus (BBV) Medicine at CNWL Trust’s Mortimer Market Centre in Central London and Honorary Consultant at University College London Hospital. He is the Viral Hepatitis Lead for CNWL Trust. Stuart was an NIHR Clinical Research Fellow in Hepatology on the HepFREE study (testing for HBV and HCV in Primary care), which was published in Jan 2019 in the Lancet Gastro & Hep. He is chair of the BASHH HIV/BBV Special interest Group and the organising committee for the annual BASHH HIV Masterclass conference. Stuart has been a medical broadcaster for the BBC (BBC Radio 1 Surgery, CBBC’s Newsround, BBC Breakfast). He wrote and presented a BBC Radio 4 documentary on antimicrobial resistance The Path Of Least Resistance, available to listen to via BBC iPlayer.

Dr Richard Ma is a GP principal in London and NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow at Imperial College London. He has a research interest in delivery of sexual and reproductive health in primary care. His current research focuses on equity and impact of contraceptive provision in general practice. He has held positions including: member of RCGP’s Sex Drugs and Blood Borne Virus Group, National Chlamydia Screening Advisory Group, expert member on NICE Guidelines on Preventing Sexually Transmitted Infections and under-18 conceptions and more recently expert member for NICE Quality Standards Advisory Committee on Contraception and NICE Scholar. He frequently writes and lectures on all matters related to sexual health/HIV and campaigns for better experience for LGBTQ+ patients in general practice. Most recently, he has been one of the founding members of #PrideRCGP programme, set up to improve experiences and well-being of LGBTQ+ community of peers and patients.

Shaun Watson has worked in and around HIV since 1989 initially as an HIV link nurse in Hull (ensuring that healthcare professionals were educated and people living with HIV received appropriate care) and a volunteer counsellor at AIDS Action. Since 2005 I have worked as a community HIV clinical nurse specialist in central London and Chair of the National HIV Nurses Association for the past 4 years.

Dr Nicola Mackie is a Consultant Physician and Clinical Director for HIV at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Her research was in the field of HIV-1 drug resistance and she runs the weekly Virtual Clinic. Although her main interest is clinical work, she is involved with writing national guidelines; examining for dipHIV and teaching for BASHH and EACS. She is a Trustee of the British HIV Association and a member of SWIFT (Supporting Women with HIV Information Network).

Resources & support organisations

The Mortimer Market Centre - https://www.shl.uk/clinic/mortimer-market-centre

Jefferiss Wing Sexual Health - https://www.imperial.nhs.uk/our-services/sexual-health-and-hiv

Positively UK podcasts https://positivelyuk.org/lgbt-podcast/

Dean Street Sexual Health https://dean.st/