Stamford: Women Contacted After NHS Worker Has Hep C

11 September 2013, 16:34 | Updated: 11 September 2013, 17:24

A number of women who were treated at the Stamford Hospital between 28 November to 2 December 1983 are being contacted after NHS worker discovers they had Hepatitis C.

Public Health England (PHE) have told Heart, they're aware a healthcare worker who had worked in Obstetrics and Gynaecology has been diagnosed with Hepatitis C infection.

It has recently come to light that the healthcare worker is known to have transmitted the virus to two patients while working at a hospital in Wales from 1984 until they ceased clinical practice in 2002.
 
A ‘lookback’ patient notification exercise involving the review at least 3,000 former hospital patients’ notes and records from the Caerphilly District Miners Hospital has been announced by the Aneurin Bevan Health Board today. Around 200 former hospital patients from two other hospitals in Wales where the healthcare worker practised for a short time are also being contacted.

Those patients identified as exposed or possibly exposed to Hepatitis C are being sent individual letters and asked to call a special confidential helpline, inviting them to attend a hospital clinic or, if they have moved away from the area, their GP for a blood test. Effective treatments are available for Hepatitis C and further information and advice will also be provided to anyone who needs it.

There is only a small chance that a patient might acquire Hepatitis C virus infection through surgical contact with an infected healthcare worker. The risk is very low as this can only occur if the healthcare worker is infectious and leads or assists in an operation or procedure on the patient. However, even in such circumstances transmission is very rare.
 
The healthcare worker also worked at other hospitals across the UK prior to working in Wales, including

·Stamford Hospital (28 November to 2 December 1983)

And other hospitals between 1975 and 1983:

• Grimsby General Hospital (3 Sept 1975 to 6 March 1978) – now Diana Princess of Wales Hospital
• Burnley General Hospital (5 to 30 April 1978)
• Bedford Hospital (3 July to 6 August 1978 & 4 to 19 November 1978)
• City General Hospital, Carlisle (31 Aug to 17 Sep 1978 and 12 April to 2 May 1982) – now Cumberland Infirmary
• Herts and Essex Hospital (4 December 1978 to 10 January 1979)
• All Saints Hospital, Kent (5 to 16 November 1979) – now Medway Maritime Hospital
• Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport (20 July to 2 November 1981)
• Doncaster Gate Hospital, Rotherham (23 July to 18 August 1982) – now Rotherham Hospital
• Royal Victoria Hospital, Boscombe (27 September to 10 Oct 1982) – now the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS Foundation Trust
• Royal General Hospital, Treliske (8 Feb to 19 March 1983 & 9 May to 21 June 1983) – now the Royal Cornwall Hospital

Wales

• Wrexham Maelor Hospital (May 15 to June 27 1978)
• East Glamorgan Hospital (May 28 1984 to July 17 1984)
• Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital (May 1984 to July 2003)

Northern Ireland

• The Mid Ulster Hospital, Magherafelt (11 January to 4 November 1979)

Scotland

• Fife Hospitals (25 March to 3 July 1981)

Similar lookback exercises are taking place in parallel across all the hospitals in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland where the healthcare worker practised.
 
Less than 400 women in England have so far been identified as having definitely or possibly had operations conducted by the affected healthcare worker. They will be contacted directly by letter inviting them to call a confidential helpline,to discuss whether they would like to have a blood test arranged at their GP practice.
 
As it has been almost 30 years since the individual worked in hospitals in England, records of women who may be at risk are in some cases incomplete, for example if the hospital has been renamed or patients have moved around the country.
 
In England, the helpline and support service (0800 121 4400) will also be in place from 9am on Thursday 12 September, for any woman who is concerned because they had an obstetric or gynaecological operation, or they gave birth, at one of the 11 hospitals during the specified periods.
 
Dr Paul Cosford, medical director at PHE, told Heart: "We have worked hard to identify women in England who might have been at risk of contracting infection with hepatitis C from this healthcare worker and are contacting them to offer advice and a blood test for hepatitis C, should they wish to have one. I want to emphasise that the risk of infection is very small and that we are offering them testing purely as a precaution. 
 
Around one in 250 adults in England have chronic Hepatitis C infection and it does not automatically lead to health problems. Treatment can help clear the infection in up to 80 per cent cases, which is why it’s important to identify anyone who may be at risk of having been infected so treatment can be started if necessary".
 
Like most people who are infected with hepatitis C, the healthcare worker had no symptoms and was unaware of the infection until after they retired. As soon as the risk of infection was recognised, and a transmission was confirmed, a process of tracing their occupational history began.

Since 2007, all healthcare workers who are new to the NHS are tested for hepatitis C by their employing Trust, including anyone performing certain procedures (known as Exposure Prone Procedures). Existing NHS healthcare workers performing Exposure Prone Procedures for the first time are also tested for hepatitis C. 
 
Patients who may have been at risk are being contacted by letter and given a confidential helpline number to call.

Any woman who is concerned because they had an obstetric or gynaecological operation, or they gave birth, at one of the 11 hospitals during the specified periods should contact the same helpline number where they will be assessed and offered advice on whether a test is appropriate for them.