ABSTRACT

Voluntary groups have long provided basic services in Britain, and it is not surprising that many such organizations were either established or changed their focus in response to HIV infection and AIDS (Green, 1989). An active voluntary sector is supported by central government both generally in the context of providing care in the community and more specifically in relation to HIV and AIDS. The recent White Paper, ‘Caring for People: Community Care in the Next Decade’, for example, stated that service plans should include making ‘the maximum possible use of private and voluntary providers, so as to increase the available range of options and widen consumer choice’ (HMSO, 1989, 1.11). In relation to HIV and AIDS, and in 1986, after visiting America, the then Secretary of State for Health, Norman Fowler, praised the model of care available in San Francisco, arguing that it was suitable for Britain to adopt. This model relies on non-profitmaking groups providing the majority of services.