Mr. Anthony D. WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the outcome of the review of policy on patient notification exercises relating to HIV-infected health care workers. [20343]
§ Jacqui SmithWe have recently accepted advice from the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS (EAGA) and the United Kingdom Advisory Panel for Health Care Workers Infected with Blood-borne Viruses (UKAP). They advise that it is no longer necessary to notify every single patient who has undergone an exposure prone procedure' by an HIV infected health care worker because of the low risk of transmission and the anxiety caused to large numbers of patients.
In future, the need for and extent of a patient notification exercise will depend on the level of risk exposure. This may mean that in some instances there is no patient notification exercise, or it is limited in its scope. Until now, all patients who have undergone exposure prone procedures have been notified regardless of their level of risk. EAGA and UKAP are in the process of developing these criteria and we will be issuing operational guidance to the national health service in the new year.
1 Exposure prone procedures are those where there is a risk that injury to the health care worker could result in their blood contaminating a patient's open tissues. Exposure prone procedures, in general terms, include most surgery, gynaecology and obstetrics, dentistry, and some aspects of midwifery and specialist nursing.