Doctors call for at-risk medical staff to be tested annually

TOP doctors fear that health workers are passing on deadly diseases, such as HIV and Hepatitis to their patients.

The Royal College of Physicians is calling for annual screening of all doctors, nurses, and dentists who might work in surgery or who might come into contact with open wounds.

They believe that the new Scottish Executive proposals to screen all staff for the diseases at the beginning of their careers are not enough to eliminate the risks to patients. The appeal comes in the wake of a number of scares which have seen patients unknowingly being operated on by staff who later proved to be infected with HIV.

While no figures exist for the number of NHS staff who may be infected with HIV, the virus linked to Aids, studies suggest that as many as 230 clinical staff in the NHS in Scotland may have Hepatitis C, which can cause fatal liver failure.

The Royal College of Physicians believes that government proposals for testing health workers for HIV and Hepatitis B and C when they start work are too weak.

It fears that doctors, nurses, and ancillary workers might have come into contact with these diseases while operating on infected people.

It is also feared that a health worker who received treatment or surgery in a foreign country or who has had a risky sexual encounter may also be unwittingly at risk of infecting hospital patients.

In a submission to the Scottish Executive, the College said: "The best way forward should be a system of regular surveillance for Exposure Prone Procedure (EPP) workers. Such a system would surely be easier to implement.

"This would catch all new entrants, and with an annual test for everyone else, it would detect anyone who was exposed occupationally or personally to blood-borne viruses."

The testing would apply to the 14,000 Scottish health workers linked to surgery or treating wounds. Doctors, nurses, and dentists who tested positive for these infectious diseases would be reallocated to jobs in the NHS where they would not come into contact with patients’ open wounds.

But a spokesman for Unison Scotland said: "[Testing] is a poor use of resources and staff time and the rationale for it is based on the flimsiest of evidence. It stigmatises staff and will create a negative atmosphere of suspicion and blame in the workplace."

James Kennedy, the director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said: "Any change to [existing procedures] should only result from evidence that clearly demonstrates it is required."

Dr John Garner, chairman of the British Medical Association in Scotland, said: "The BMA recognises the need to minimise any potential health risk posed to patients from health care workers, particularly in relation to serious communicable diseases. The BMA therefore supports health checks for staff working in specialities where exposure prone procedures are a component of that job. "