Freedom of Information request HIV – Psychological Support

Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI 300-2026

Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request. Please find our response below.

You asked:

1. Name of your Trust or Health Board?

Our response:

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust.

You asked:

2. Does the HIV service have a named or designated role with recorded responsibility for overseeing psychological support for adults living with HIV?

Our response:

Yes

You asked:

If yes, please provide:
a. the job title
b. the relevant department or service;
c. whether the post forms part of the HIV multidisciplinary team; and
d. the funded whole-time equivalent allocated specifically to this responsibility, if recorded.

Our response:

a. Counsellor – Sexual Health Services, Gloucestershire

b. Specialist HIV Service

c. Yes

d. 0.26 wte

You asked:

3. Does the HIV service have access to funded psychological practitioner capacity dedicated wholly or partly to people living with HIV?

Our response:

Yes.

You asked:

If yes, please provide, where held:

a. the profession(s) or job title(s);
b. the funded whole-time equivalent dedicated to HIV care.

Our response:

a. Counsellor – Sexual Health Services, Gloucestershire

b. 0.26 wte

You asked:

4. Using the table below, please indicate which services for people living with HIV are available within your Trust/Health Board, the delivery route for each service (using the codes provided below), whether the service is commissioned specifically for people living with HIV, and whether the service uses Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs).

Type of support Available? Delivery route (Select all applicable codes) Commissioned specifically for people living with HIV? PROMs used?
Psychological needs identification or assessment Yes / No / Not held Select code Yes / No / Not held Yes / No / Not held
Low-intensity psychological interventions Yes / No / Not held Select code Yes / No / Not held Yes / No / Not held
Specialist psychological practitioners (e.g. clinical psychologists, counselling psychologists, psychotherapists) Yes / No / Not held Select code Yes / No / Not held Yes / No / Not held
Specialist psychological therapies Yes / No / Not held Select code Yes / No / Not held Yes / No / Not held
Neuropsychological assessment or support Yes / No / Not held Select code Yes / No / Not held Yes / No / Not held
Pathway for severe and enduring mental illness Yes / No / Not held Select code Yes / No / Not held Yes / No / Not held
HIV peer support Yes / No / Not held Select code Yes / No / Not held Yes / No / Not held
Online psychological support services Yes / No / Not held Select code Yes / No / Not held Yes / No / Not held
Other Specify Select code Yes / No / Not held Yes / No / Not held

Delivery-route codes:

• A: Provided within the HIV service
• B: Referred to another NHS service
• C: Provided by a commissioned HIV-specific VCSE organisation
• D: Provided by a commissioned non-HIV-specific VCSE organisation
• E: Provided by a commissioned independent or private provider
• F: Information not held

Our response:

You asked:

5. Does the Trust or Health Board hold a current HIV training programme, training requirement, competency framework or guidance for staff delivering psychological or mental health support to people living with HIV?

Our response:

Yes.

You asked:

If yes, please provide a copy or web link, or state:

a. the title of the training or document;
b. the staff groups to which it applies; and
c. whether completion is mandatory or optional.

Our response:

a. Nursing HIV Association competencies, and follow British HIV Associations training

b. Nursing

c. Mandatory

You asked:

6. For the calendar year 1 January to 31 December 2025, please provide the following recorded figures, where held:

a. the total number of people recorded as receiving HIV care;
b. the number who received a recorded psychological-needs identification, screening or assessment;
c. the number identified through that process as requiring or potentially benefiting from psychological support; and
d. the number referred by the HIV service for psychological support.

If the Trust or Health Board already holds percentages corresponding to these figures, please also provide them. We are not asking the organisation to calculate percentages that it does not already hold.

Our response:

a. 664 Patients

b. Due to limitations within the electronic patient record, we are unable to provide a direct number of patients recorded. However, as part of the initial assessment for new patients and yearly assessments for all patients, are asked to score out of 10 their ‘Mood’ anyone who has a score that is different to how they usually would score further exploration is completed.

c. Due to limitations within the electronic patient record, and low intensity psychological support being embedded throughout the Specialist HIV service, a specific number is unable to be identified.

d. 29 patients referred to the Counsellor within HIV service. 29 referrals to Eddystone Trust during that time frame.

You asked:

If the Trust or Health Board already holds percentages corresponding to these figures, please also provide them. We are not asking the organisation to calculate percentages that it does not already hold.

Our response:

Not held.

You asked:

7. For referrals made during 2025, please provide any recorded information held on waiting time, in calendar days, from the date of referral to the first attended psychological-support appointment.

Where held, please provide:
a. mean waiting time;
b. median waiting time;
c. the number of referrals included in the calculation; and
d. the definition of waiting time used, and reporting period used.
We are not asking the Trust or Health Board to calculate a mean or median if it does not already hold that information.

Our response:

Due to limitations within the electronic patient record the service does not hold the mean and median waiting times.

You asked:

8. Since 1 January 2020, has the HIV service completed an audit, self-assessment, service review, gap analysis or quality-improvement exercise that explicitly assessed provision against either of the following standards?

a. BHIVA Standards of Psychological Support for Adults Living with HIV (either the 2011 Standards or the updated 2025 Standards)
b. Psychological Management of Children and Young People Living with HIV: Standards for Care

Our response:

No.

You asked:

For each relevant exercise completed, please provide:

a. its title and completion date;
b. which standard was used;
c. a copy of the final report, action plan or executive summary; or, if already published, a web link; and
d. the recorded status of actions arising from it, where held.

Our response:

Not applicable.

Next steps:

Should you have any queries in relation to our response, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your request and wish to ask us to review our response, you should write to:

Louise Moss, Head of Legal Services / Associate Director of Corporate Governance
c/o Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Edward Jenner Court
1010 Pioneer Avenue
Gloucester Business Park
Brockworth, GL3 4AW
E-mail: louise.moss20@nhs.net

If you are not content with the outcome of any review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for further advice/guidance. Generally, the ICO will not consider your case unless you have exhausted your enquiries with the Trust which should include considering the use of the Trust’s formal complaints procedure. The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.