MORE than 700 patients have faced the devastating news that they may have been infected with Hepatitis C by a healthcare worker at Frimley Park Hospital.
Letters were sent out last week to 782 patients after it was revealed that a healthcare worker had been found to be Hepatitis C positive.
The warning came a staggering four months after the hospital was first alerted to the healthcare worker's diagnosis with the virus, which is transmitted through the exchange of blood or body fluids.
The letters explained that a confidential helpline number had been set up by the hospital and asked if they wished to have a blood test to confirm whether they had been infected with the virus.
At a press conference last Friday a panel of experts including the hospital's chief executive, Andrew Morris, refused to identify the worker.
But, the panel did confirm that the worker had been involved in carrying out procedures which could have put patients "at risk of infection".
Mr Morris explained that the healthcare worker, who is still employed by the hospital, had undergone a voluntary test for the virus after visiting the hospital's occupational health unit. It is unknown how long the worker, who is said to have worked at other hospitals in the south of England, had been infected. The panel refused to reveal which other hospitals had been notified of the diagnosis.
"There are issues of confidentiality and we cannot discuss why the healthcare worker visited the occupational health unit or why the healthcare worker decided to be tested for Hepatitis C," Mr Morris told the press.
Reassuringly, he added that since the diagnosis, the worker was no longer involved in carrying out procedures that may put patients at risk.
The panel blamed the delay in informing patients and the public on the fact that the hospital had been undertaking a large review of medical records.
Mr Morris explained that the hospital had sought advice on the matter from the United Kingdom Advisory Panel for Health Care Workers with Bloodborne Viruses (UKAP).
"UKAP advised that we undertook a 'look back' study involving 500 patients, however we decided to look back at the totality of patients treated by the healthcare worker and we have gone beyond that advice by notifying 782 patients. We have approached the look back as thoroughly as possible," Mr Morris added.
A spokesman for the hospital confirmed after the press conference that some of the patients involved in the "look back" study had been treated at the start of this year. The spokesman declined to comment on how far the look back period stretched.
Consultant in communicable disease control for Surrey Dr Corry van den Bosch, a member of the panel, said: "We must stress that there is a very low risk that any of the patients have been infected with the virus. It is very rare for the virus to be transmitted in this way."