President’s Blog – Professor Matt Phillips – April 2025
03 April 2025
(Last updated: 3 Apr 2025 14:40)
Dear Colleagues,
As we enter Spring, I’m pleased to share key updates from the past few months.
As you’ll have seen, in early March Sir Keir Starmer announced the decision to abolish NHS England, bringing its functions into the Department of Health and Social Care, in support of wider efforts to reduce bureaucracy, improve efficiency, and redirect funds to frontline services. While the intent is to improve accountability, there of course remain significant unanswered questions about the impact that the move will have on the key aspects of sexual health and HIV care that fall under NHS England’s remit, including HIV treatment and care, opportunistic testing and treatment for STIs, emergency department opt-out BBV testing, vaccine delivery, and sexual assault referral centres. The Government’s planned reforms will require legislative action, but Wes Streeting has indicated that some restructuring will begin immediately, with full integration expected within two years. BASHH will be closely monitoring the situation and engaging with policymakers to in the coming weeks, to help ensure sexual health features a core consideration. As always, we will keep you updated on key developments.
Building on legislative changes, I also wanted to share a reminder that from 6th April, changes to the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010 (HPNR) will make congenital syphilis, neonatal herpes, and disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI) notifiable diseases in England. This means Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) must legally report suspected cases to their local authority’s Proper Officer, typically a UKHSA health protection consultant. To support this, a new web-based reporting system – designed to cut reporting time by 50% – is now available. In a recent BASHH Bitesize session, UKHSA representative Dr Hamish Mohammad outlined these updates and their impact on the sexual health workforce. A reminder that these excellent members-only sessions run twice a month – so do keep an eye out.
You will have also likely seen the news coverage of new UKHSA data identifying a rise in antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea cases across England. The announcement outlined that both ceftriaxone-resistant and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains are increasing at a worrying pace. Between January 2024 and March 2025, we have seen 17 cases of ceftriaxone-resistant gonorrhoea – more than the total recorded in the previous two years. XDR cases have nearly doubled in the same period. BASHH, alongside sector partners, has called for an urgent response, including the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) recommended rollout of the 4CMenB vaccine. This could help reduce transmission of gonorrhoea, yet more than a year after JCVI’s advice, a policy decision remains pending.
On a lighter note, in the past month, we have launched a new series of masterclasses, designed specifically for BASHH Fellow Members. These sessions will support senior leaders in sexual health to navigate key challenges and develop strategic responses in their services. The first session, led by the brilliant Dr David Phillips and Dr Elizabeth Carlin, explored how the information we code translates into outcomes, impact and value, as well as delving into contract and tendering considerations. If you’re a BASHH Fellow and want to find out more about the upcoming webinar on ‘Storytelling’, featuring LGBTQ+ historian Sacha Coward and GUM & HIV consultant Rageshri Dhairywan, please visit the website here.
In February, BASHH member Luciana Rubinstein and her colleagues hosted Labour MP and member of the Health and Social Care Committee, Danny Beales, at their sexual health service in Hillingdon. The visit provided a great opportunity to showcase the breadth of crucial services provided, discussing funding and workforce concerns, detailing the importance of preventative measures, and reflecting on community-specific issues the clinicians see day-in, day-out. If you’re interested in organising a service visit from your local MP, please reach out to bashh@mandfhealth.com to discuss next steps.
Finally, a reminder that there is less than a month to benefit from early-bird rates to the BASHH Annual Conference, ending on 2nd May. Please do make the most of these reduced rates – registration details can be found here. I also want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who submitted an abstract for Conference. We’ve received over 270 abstract submissions this year – the highest number in the last three years! Good luck to all our entrants and I look forward to hearing more about your research when we meet in Edinburgh between 9th – 11th June.
Yours,
Matt
Professor Matt Phillips
BASHH President