12.11.14
22,000 NHS dental patients recalled amid HIV and hepatitis scare
At least 22,000 NHS dental patients in Nottinghamshire are being recalled for blood tests amid fears that they could have been infected with blood-borne viruses by a lax dentist failing to correctly sterilise equipment between patients.
The dentist, who has not yet been identified, was suspended in June after a whistleblower secretly filmed him allegedly breaching infection-control standards, the Mirror has reported. The paper claims more than 160 patients were recorded as being put at “serious risk” from infection.
The unidentified dentist, who had practised for 32 years, was given an interim 18-month suspension by the General Dental Council in August, pending an investigation.
Contrary to some media reports, the dentist is not HIV positive or carrying hepatitis or any other blood-borne virus, NHS England has confirmed. “The health data of this individual is clear,” said a spokeswoman.
NHS England is trying to contact all of the dentist’s former patients after health experts recommended that they should be screened. They have, however, stressed that the risk of blood-borne infections being passed on to the dentist’s patients is low.
An emergency walk-in centre is being set up in Nottinghamshire to deal with recalled patients, who are expected to be tested for viruses such as HIV and hepatitis B and C. A separate hotline is also being set up to advise and reassure people who were treated at the practice.
More details will be released about the health scare at a press conference later today in Mansfield.
Tell us what you think – have your say below or email [email protected]