§ Mr. StrangTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, what evidence is required in order to satisfy his Department that on the balance of probabilities an HIV infection was acquired at work.
§ Mr. MellorUnder the National Health Service (Injury Benefits) Regulations, cover is available to all National Health Service employees who contract a disease which is attributable to their employment. Each claim is considered on its merits and cases of HIV infection would be treated no differently.
The Department would look carefully at the circumstances surrounding each claim, taking note of the duties undertaken in the employment and the claimant's description of how he or she thought the disease was contracted. The Department's medical advisers would then consider this information against the ways in which the disease may be contracted. Where title was in doubt, expert medical opinion would be sought from a consultant specialising in the particular field of medicine as to whether it was more likely than not that the infection had been acquired in the course of National Health Service employment.