The Sunday Telegraph yesterday reported that the Department of Health plans to test all new National Health Service staff for HIV, following a report to the Minister of Health by the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS.
However, The Guardian today reported that testing would be offered to health care workers involved in exposure-prone procedures such as midwives and surgeons, and that the tests would be voluntary and would not prevent employment in other NHS jobs that did not involve exposure-prone procedures. A proposal for compulsory testing of all NHS recruits “looks like a political strategy to pave the way for recommendations that will be far less extreme”, the paper’s health editor commented.
The Department of Health is also considering testing for hepatitis C, and plans a consultation exercise in January.