The Cocoon project, set up in Tayside, Scotland seeks to address the high rate of drug-related deaths in the area.
The project delivers point-of-care diagnosis of HCV in needle exchange sites, while also integrating services which typically require travel to alternate NHS sites to reduce the burden of multiple visits and different providers. The result is a ‘one-stop’ holistic care bundle which seeks to address the inequity of access experienced by PWUD by increasing their engagement through services tailored to their specific needs.
Hepatitis C: Out of control. An audit of Strategic Health Authority hepatitis c governance
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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.
