Responding to the publication of an audit by the All-Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group which found that only 8% of Primary Care Trusts have taken effective action to improve hepatitis C services, Theresa May MP said:
‘The Government published in 2004 an Action Plan to improve hepatitis C services but there seems to have been little but inaction since then from too many parts of the NHS. Hepatitis C is a public health time bomb and it needs addressing now. It is unacceptable that so many PCTs are ignoring the scale of the problem.’
The audit was conducted on behalf of the Group by the Hepatitis C Trust. With help and advice from a panel of healthcare professionals, The Hepatitis C Trust conducted the audit on the basis of 10 criteria, scoring PCTs out of 10 depending on whether or not they had fulfilled each of the criteria.
A score between 8 and 10 indicated that a PCT has made a major effort and significant progress in implementing the Action Plan, whilst a score of 3 or less suggests the Plan is onlt being implemented minimally or not al all. A score of between 4 and 7 indicated that some progress has been made to implement the Plan, but that more needs to be done.
An assessment of the audit response from PCTs in Maidenhead shows that:
- Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead primary Care Trust scores 6
- Wokingham Primary Care Trust scored 6
NOTES TO EDITORS
- Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that primarily attacks the liver
