Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS trusts on the rollout of (a) HIV and (b) hepatitis opt-out testing in A&E departments in (i) Slough constituency and (ii) Berkshire .

Two hospitals within Berkshire, namely the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, and the Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, are involved in the second wave of the highly successful National Health Service emergency department blood borne viruses opt-out testing programme, and are planning to go live on 12 March 2025. Both will be testing for HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C.

We have extended the HIV opt-out testing scheme to approximately 90 hospitals based in extremely high and high prevalence areas to March 2026, with an additional £27 million investment. Decisions for offering opt-out HIV testing in emergency departments are based on HIV prevalence levels in local areas, in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s recommendations on HIV testing.