Is it time to rethink the roles of health professionals in the HIV outpatient setting

HIV outpatient services across the United Kingdom are seeing large increases in their patient workload. This is fuelled by the success of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), resulting in fewer deaths, and by increases in the number of new diagnoses.1 A further rise is anticipated in England following implementation of “The national strategy for sexual health and HIV” that plans to increase HIV testing dramatically in order to reduce the number of undiagnosed HIV infections by 50% by the end of 2007.2 The success of HAART has also changed the focus of many doctor-patient outpatient consultations from prophylaxis and management of opportunistic infections, to issues related to …