HIV patients praise compassionate staff
PATIENTS with HIV say they were afraid to put their names on a ‘thank you’ plaque to NHS staff.
A group of patients funded the gift for the Brownlee Clinic in Glasgow for the “respectful and compassionate” care they received.
However, the patients said they stopped short of going public with their names on the plaque due to discrimination fears.
Patients diagnosed with HIV now can expect to have a normal life expectancy following major drug developments in the past 20 years.
The group, represented by John, Tilly, and Patrick, said: “The care we receive is way beyond the call of duty.
“We are treated with respect and compassion. I would suggest that this care is second to none.
“The ethos of the Brownlee is due to the staff, past and present, and in a large part due to the long-term patients, some of whom are sadly no longer with us, collectively they are all responsible.
“The names at the end of this are not our real names, we were not confident in using our real names as there is still a l ot of stigma i n society.”
Earlier this year the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) approved the treatment, which is known as Prep, to protect people at risk of contracting the virus.
Patients diagnosed with HIV in the 1990s had an expectation of an early death from AIDS.
Today HIV is considered a “chronic manageable condition”.