NHS Lothian patients wait up to eight months for HIV drug, figures show

Scottish ministers have been told to speed up the delivery of an HIV prevention drug after figures revealed patients in the Lothians are waiting up to eight months for the treatment.

Figures obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests by the Scottish Liberal Democrats revealed patients within the health board, which includes Edinburgh, Midlothian and East and West Lothian, waited up to 260 days to receive pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication in this year.

PrEP is thought to be highly effective for preventing HIV and reduces the chances of contracting the virus through sex by about 99%, experts suggest.

All patients in the Lothians, Scotland’s second largest health board, now wait a minimum of at least 90 days to receive the medication – up from just 10 days in the previous years.

The Scottish Government has committed to eliminating HIV transmission by 2030.

And the average wait time has increased from 71 days in 2021 to 115 days in 2022.

Every other health board claimed to provide appointments within 17 days, with many saying that a prescription could be accessed through walk-in clinics, according to the figures.

The data also showed that more than 80% of patients seeking PrEP – 157 of 194 patients – are currently on the waiting list at NHS Lothian.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “These figures show that people are facing long waits to access PrEP medication here in the Lothians.

“We know that this medication is of massive benefit and an important step in eliminating the transmission of HIV in Scotland which the Government have pledged to do so by 2030.

“At the extreme end we could even see an increase in the spread of the disease as a result of this failure to distribute medication fast enough.

“In 2018, I asked the First Minister why Lothian had the longest waits in the country for PrEP medication and she promised to work with NHS Lothian to deliver the drug quickly.

“Four years later, and not only is NHS Lothian still struggling to meet demand, delivery is now slower.

“The Scottish Government must ensure that health authorities across the country have the right staff, support and resources to eliminate HIV transmission once and for all.”

Dona Milne, Director of Public Health for NHS Lothian said: “There has been a significant rise in PrEP demand following Covid-19 restrictions being eased.

“This includes new appointments and a rising demand for review appointments from patients needing to restart treatment following the pandemic.

“This has resulted in delays to waiting times and we apologise to all of those affected.

“We remain committed to reducing waiting times as quickly as possible.

“Working with Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership we have recruited additional staff to increase the number of clinics available in the coming weeks which aims to reduce waiting times for patients to start PrEP.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “In 2017, Scotland was the first part of the UK to make PrEP medication available on the NHS, recognising its importance in the ongoing work to prevent transmission of HIV.

“The Scottish Government and NHS boards are working hard to ensure that all those who would benefit from the medication can access it when they need it. However, the Coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the entire healthcare system, including sexual health services.

“We are committed, with the health boards, to ensuring that Scotland does not lose the tremendous progress made in the last decade in supporting people who use sexual health services. We have also commissioned an expert-led proposal to eliminate HIV transmission by 2030, and we will work with our partners to deliver concrete actions to achieve that goal.”