Thousands of Patients Face Virus Tests
More than 22,000 patients of a Nottinghamshire dentist are to be recalled for tests to see if they have been infected with blood-borne viruses which could include HIV.
NHS England has confirmed that the dentist, who has not yet been identified, has been suspended.
The recall affects all patients who were treated by the dentist over a 32-year period.
The allegations surrounding the dentist came after a whistleblower secretly filmed the man allegedly breaching infection-control standards. Those deemed at risk will also be tested for other blood-borne viruses included hepatitis B and C.
Sources say more than 160 patients were being classed at serious risk from the infection. The unnamed dentist is also allegedly responsible for separate failures that left health experts horrified.
The NHS will make a public appeal later today for former patients to come forward. Bosses will hold a press conference explaining how the investigation will proceed.
NHS England has taken advice from experts and they stress the risk of blood- borne infections being passed to the dentists’ patients is low.
But they have recommended that screening is offered.
Tracing the 22,000 patients treated by this dentist over 30 years will be easier said than done.
Some of them will have moved out of the area and others may have died.
Following the allegations, NHS England bosses are trying to track down all his former patients to warn them that they need to be screened.
To deal with the crisis, an emergency walk-in centre has been set up in Nottinghamshire.
A hotline, which will operate seven days a week, has also been launched to advise patients who were treated by the dentist.
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