Compiled
and edited
by Martin Flynn
Row over testing of health workers
page 4 of 6
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A row has blown up over government suggestions for the
compulsory HIV testing of new doctors and nurses.
The Department of Health has confirmed that an expert group was set up
last August to look into the issue, but says that ministers have yet to
make a final decision.
Backing for compulsory testing has increased this year since Wolverhampton
Health Authority discovered that 10 of its nurses were HIV positive. 500
patients in both East Yorkshire and the South East were offered testing
after positive healthcare workers were discovered.
Figures show that more than 2,000 nurses from South Africa, 473 from Zimbabwe
and 100 from Botswana registered to work in the NHS last year. All three
countries have high prevalences of HIV.
The General Medical Council, the doctor's regulatory body, opposes compulsory
testing and says it would be illegal under the 1983 Medical Act. And the
Royal College of Surgeons said that if surgeons were expected to be tested
for HIV, then so should all patients.
A Public Health Laboratory Service spokesman confirmed to Positive Nation
that no healthcare worker has ever transmitted HIV to a patient in the
UK, but confirmed that there have been five confirmed cases of patients
in the UK transmitting HIV to healthcare workers. (See
Letters)
Professor Brian Gazzard (left) has been presented with an 'Outstanding Achiever' award by the Prince of Wales and Health Secretary Alan Milburn for his work for HIV positive people. Professor Gazzard is the leading consultant at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and is also chairman of the British HIV Association (BHIVA).
