Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with (a) NHS England, (b) clinical commissioning groups and (c) local authorities in London on ensuring appropriate services are in place to increase the number of people who use or have used drugs who are tested for and diagnosed with hepatitis C.

We expect NHS England, clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to follow guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on improving uptake of testing for hepatitis C (and B):

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph43

We also expect treatment for hepatitis C as approved by NICE to be available in line with the guidance issued to operational delivery networks by NHS England. Treatment is prioritised on clinical need and not on the presumed route of infection.

The commissioning and care planning of treatment is supported by a number of documents including:

Public Health Report on Commissioning of HCV services in London for People who Inject Drugs published in 2013 by the London Joint Working Group on Substance Use and Hepatitis C and NHS North West London:

http://ljwg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/LJWG-2013-Public-Health-Report-on-Commissioning-of-HCV-services-in-London-for-People-who-Inject-Drugs.pdf

Hepatitis Frequently asked questions, Briefing for councillors jointly published in 2013 by Public Health England (PHE) and the Local Government:

http://www.local.gov.uk/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=f0e5b7b9-c32e-4c8e-a005-b5c4e87b0126&groupId=10180

Improving access to, and completion of, hepatitis C treatment published in 2015 by PHE:

http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/turning-evidence-into-practice-improving-access-to-hepatitis-c-treatment.pdf