Guidelines to help the NHS when screening new employees for blood-borne viruses have been published by the Department of Health.
All new health workers will require medical checks for tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV in a bid to reduce the passing on of the viruses to patients.
The new guidance comes after a consultation with stakeholders, including the NHS, the Royal Colleges, academic institutions and public health bodies and advice from a risk assessment group.
Caroline Flint, the public health minister, commented: "Our aim is not to prevent new healthcare workers with blood-borne viruses from working in the NHS, but to stop them working in clinical areas where their infection may pose a risk to patients in their care.
"This guidance will be very helpful in ensuring that new health care workers are screened appropriately at the start of their NHS careers, so that those who are infected with serious communicable diseases can be guided into appropriate areas where their health problems pose no risks to them from their work and where they would pose no risk to patients."
Furthermore, health workers set to start performing "exposure prone procedures" such as surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology must be cleared for hepatitis C and HIV.
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