Qualitative impact assessment of an educational workshop on primary care practitioner attitudes to NICE HIV testing guidelines

BACKGROUND: In 2013, Public Health England piloted the ‘3Cs (chlamydia, contraception, condoms) and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)’ educational intervention in 460 GP surgeries. The educational HIV workshop aimed to improve the ability and confidence of staff to offer HIV testing in line with national guidelines. AIM: To qualitatively assess the impact of an educational workshop on GP staff’s attitudes to NICE HIV testing guidelines. DESIGN & SETTING: Qualitative interviews with GP staff across England before and after an educational HIV workshop. METHOD: Thirty-two GP staff (15 before and 17 after educational HIV workshop) participated in interviews exploring their views and current practice of HIV testing. Interview transcripts were thematically analysed and examined, using the components of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and normalisation process theory (NPT) as a framework. RESULTS: GPs reported that the educational HIV workshop resulted in increased knowledge of, and confidence to offer, HIV tests based on indicator conditions. However, overall participants felt they needed additional HIV training around clinical care pathways for offering tests, giving positive HIV results, and current treatments and outcomes. Participants did not see a place for point-of-care testing in general practice. CONCLUSION: Implementation of national HIV guidelines will require multiple educational sessions, especially to implement testing guidelines for indicator conditions in areas of low HIV prevalence. Additional role-play or discussions around scripts suggesting how to offer an HIV test may improve participants’ confidence and facilitate increased testing. Healthcare assistants (HCAs) may need specific training to ensure that they are skilled in offering HIV testing within new patient checks.