The HIV Service provides comprehensive outpatient and inpatient HIV treatment and holistic care across NHS Humber Health Partnership which covers Hull, East Yorkshire, North and North East Lincolnshire. The team support people living with HIV to lead long, healthy lives.
We do not provide initial HIV testing or prevention services such as access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) which can be taken by individuals to prevent them from contracting HIV. These services can be accessed through Sexual Health: Conifer Sexual Health, MESMAC, Greater Lincolnshire Integrated Sexual Health (GliSH) Service or Positive Health Lincolnshire.
We are proud to be an HIV Confident NHS Trust. This means that we are committed to being an organisation that welcomes patients and staff living with HIV, continues to make changes and act on any instances of HIV-related stigma and discrimination that we are made aware of. If this is something that you have experienced within the organisation, please contact our HIV champions: [email protected]
Contacts
All people living with HIV wanting to start or transfer their care to our services should contact us using the following details:
Castle Hill Hospital, Bridlington and Scunthorpe queries
Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm
Castle Hill Hospital: Entrance 2, Main Medical Outpatients Department
Scunthorpe General Hospital: Cliff Gardens Entrance, Level C, Medical Outpatients Department
Bridlington Hospital: Room 8, Medical Outpatients Department
Hull Royal Infirmary, Grimsby and Morrill Street queries
Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm
Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital: Medical Outpatients Department, Zone 4
Community (North Bank): Morrill Street Health Centre, Morrill Street
Hull Royal Infirmary: 1st Floor, Tower Block, Medical Outpatients Department
What is HIV?
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that lives in the blood that gradually weakens the immune system. The immune system is important for helping the body to remain healthy by protecting against illness and infections.
The HIV virus targets specific white blood cells called CD4 cells which are important for coordinating the body’s immune response. When the HIV virus gets inside these cells, it uses them to make more copies of itself and destroys the CD4 cells in the process. Over time and without treatment, there are less and less healthy CD4 cells which make it harder for the body to fight illness and infections.
There are now effective treatments that people living with HIV can take to stay healthy. This treatment is free and available to everyone, regardless of where you live or your immigration status. Modern HIV treatment is very effective and can make the amount of virus in the blood so low that it does not show up on blood tests. This is called being undetectable. When someone living with HIV is undetectable, they cannot pass HIV on to other people even with close or sexual contact. This idea is called U = U, which means Undetectable = Untransmittable.
With treatment, HIV is a manageable health condition and people with HIV can live long, healthy lives. However, HIV can only be treated if it is known about and it is much easier to treat if diagnosed early. This means it is very important to get tested for HIV.
- In Hull and East Riding: Conifer: Sexual and reproductive health services – Conifer Sex Health or MESMAC: Home – Yorkshire MESMAC
- In Lincolnshire: GLiSH Lincolnshire Sexual Health or Positive Health: www.positivehealthlincs.com
Currently, we are also running an opt out scheme in all the Emergency Departments across the region (Hull Royal Infirmary, Diana Princess of Wales and Scunthorpe General Hospital). This means that if you attend any of these Emergency departments for whatever reason and have your blood taken you will be tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C unless you specifically tell the clinician assessing you that you do not want to be tested. This scheme has already started to save lives by diagnosing people living with HIV who otherwise would not have been tested.
More information about HIV and living well with HIV can be found at the following trusted websites:
Care
People living with HIV are looked after by a multidisciplinary team of professionals. This team includes specialist doctors, doctors in training, specialist nurses, specialist pharmacists and a clinical psychologist who work together to give each person the care they need.
The care they offer includes:
- Reviewing general physical, mental and sexual health needs
- Helping family members or partners get tested, if needed
- Regular blood tests to check how the body is doing
- Support with HIV treatments (tablets, liquids or long‑acting injections)
- Emotional support around any challenges in coping with the diagnosis
- Education and training for other healthcare workers
The HUTH HIV team has outpatient clinics in Hull, East Riding, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. Additional support for people living with HIV also comes from MESMAC (Hull) and Positive Health (North and North East Lincolnshire)