HIV and hepatitis screening for A&E patients

Patients at emergency departments at Cambridgeshire hospitals will be screened for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C under new plans.

The move comes after the NHS outlined ambitions to end new HIV cases in England by 2030.

The NHS launched a national blood-borne virus (BBV) opt-out testing programme in April 2022 to allow testing in local areas where those infections had a high prevalence.

Peterborough City Hospital (PCH) and Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, run by Northwest Anglia Foundation NHS Trust, have now joined the scheme.

The NHS has confirmed it was extending the program to almost 90 Accident and Emergency (A&E) units in England, following the government 's £27m rollout to 30 new hospitals.

The government said the changes could lead to an extra 1,900 people receiving earlier care for HIV each year.

At PCH and Hinchingbrooke, patients aged 18 and over who attend the emergency department will have a blood test as part of the care.

The BBV testing is an opt-out test, meaning every blood test will automatically be screened for these viruses, unless a patient tells staff not to test their sample.

All tests and results are confidential, with patients only being contacted further if a "non-negative" result is shown.

If patients are not required to have a blood test during their visit, they will not be tested.

Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.