HIV and AIDS

What's available?

If you’re living with HIV/AIDS and are having difficulty with day-to-day routines, you may need support. This could be equipment and/or someone to help you with personal care, meal preparation or getting out and about. We can also give general advice and information or arrange for specialist advice to be provided if this is needed. We treat all information we receive with sensitivity and only ever pass it on to others who need to know.

Once your practical needs have been assessed by one of our staff, we’ll tell you if you’re eligible for support or where you can get help. We’ll also let you know how much money you might be entitled to, which we call a Personal Budget, to pay for that support. You can choose whether you want us to arrange for an agency to send someone to visit you or you can organise it yourself.

Who can get support from Adult Social Services?

People over the age of 18, who live in Richmond and need practical support due to sight or hearing loss, physical or learning disabilities, frailty or illness. Take a look at our page on eligibility for more details.

What if I prefer to organise my own support?

Our priority is to support people who have no other option or need additional help. If you’re happy with the support you’re able to organise, you don’t have to contact Adult Social Care if you’d rather not.

What support can I get?

We’ll need to discuss with you what support you might need. We call this an assessment.

We may offer you short term assistance called Reablement to regain your independence or confidence. This service lasts for up to 6 weeks and is free.

After Reablement, we’ll discuss any ongoing needs you might have through a Self Directed Support (SDS) Assessment. This will take place with staff from the Health & Social Care Team in the area where you live . We will also estimate the cost of your support and let you know whether we can make a financial contribution.

Can I get help with the cost?

You may have to contribute towards the cost of your support, depending on your level of savings, income and expenses.

We’ll help you to fill out a financial assessment form to see if you qualify for help. To get a rough idea of costs and how much you’ll pay, you can carry out a quick, confidential, financial self assessment online.

If we can make a contribution, we call this a Personal Budget. You can look after the money yourself and use it to arrange your own support, or you can ask the Council to hold the money and help you to find the support you need.

What if I don’t qualify for financial support?

If you don't qualify for financial help from us, you could arrange to employ someone directly, a Personal Assistant, to support you. Hestia, a local organisation, can help you to find someone.

The Money Advice Service, set up by government, provides free, unbiased and independent advice, including useful information on employing your own personal assistant.

You could also contact a private home care agency. Remember to take care to choose an agency that’s registered and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Call 03000 616161 or email enquiries@cqc.org.uk. We maintain a list of home care agencies(pdf, 295KB) in the borough.

Please contact me about this service

If you’re still unsure you can contact the Adult Social Care Access Team.

I want you to look at my situation.

HIV testing and sexual health services

The following local hospitals provide advice and information on sexual Health including HIV testing:

West Middlesex Hospital Sexual Health Clinic
Phone: 020 8565 5718
Roehampton Sexual Health Clinic
Phone: 020 8487 6861
Kingston Hospital NHS Trust, Wolverton Centre for Sexual Health
Phone: 020 8974 9331

There are a number of clinics that offer a specialist same day testing service for gay men. For a list of clinics offering this service, please visit www.gmfa.org.uk.