The HCV Action National Hepatitis C ODN Stakeholder Webinar series took place over the course of November 2021, bringing together ODN representatives and a range of partners and colleagues working on the hepatitis C elimination programme for the third annual event.
In addition to a half-day series of presentations, ‘breakout’ webinars were held on specific areas of hepatitis C care: hepatitis C in the criminal justice system; hepatitis C in community pharmacies; and hepatitis C reinfections & harm prevention. This resource offers a detailed summary of each webinar and its presentations.
Hepatitis C: Out of control. An audit of Strategic Health Authority hepatitis c governance
Download
In 2004 the Department of Health published the Hepatitis C Action Plan for England, which set out actions on surveillance, research, increasing awareness and prevention and improving service quality for patients. However, there is concern, most recently expressed by the All Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group in its report, Divided Nations: Tackling the hepatitis C challenge across the UK, that there is a lack of implementation of the Action Plan because of poor governance arrangements, monitoring and evaluation1.
This audit of Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) shows that 70% of SHAs are failing to oversee the implementation of the Action Plan, despite the fact that responsibility for oversight is placed with them in the Action Plan. Some are not aware of any local arrangements in place to deliver the Plan. Furthermore, there is absolutely no mechanism for checking that SHAs have been performing their oversight role.
