Sexual health services in England lack clear accountability and proper oversight, says report

The changes to healthcare made under the previous health secretary, Andrew Lansley, have left sexual health and HIV services in England without any clear lines of accountability or proper oversight of the quality and outcomes they deliver, concludes a report by a cross party group of peers and MPs.1

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health launched an inquiry last August, prompted by concerns that the new arrangements were fragmenting commissioning and service provision and creating “silos” in previously integrated areas of public health.

The reorganisation made local government accountable for the bulk of sexual health services, as part of its new public health remit, with the remainder split between primary care and NHS England (box).

But the report, which drew on written and spoken evidence to the inquiry from a wide range of people and organisations working in sexual and reproductive health, found that although the restructuring had created new national bodies, such as NHS England and Public Health England, lines …