The UK Advisory Panel for Healthcare Workers Infected with Bloodborne Viruses (UKAP) has provided new guidance on advising and monitoring health care workers (HCWs) living with blood-borne virues (BBVs) in the context of COVID-19.
The panel advises that:
- Appropriate monitoring of HCWs living with BBVs should still continue in line with current UKAP guidance. This is essential to protect the health of both patients and staff.
- Local arrangements can be made for Identified and Validated Samples (IVS) to be taken through alternative providers, for example, primary care, hospital general phlebotomy or sexual health services. This will reduce unnecessary repeat visits to testing sites. Samples must still be taken in accordance to IVS criteria and should have results communicated directly to the monitoring occupational health physician.
- HCWs living with BBVs are advised to book their review at the beginning of the monitoring window (i.e., week 10 or week 50). This will give enough time for cancellation and rebooking of appointments missed due to illness or isolation.
- All staff undertaking exposure-prone procedures (EPPs), including redeployed staff or those returning to the NHS, must undertake health clearance before doing so. Consultant occupational physicians should continue to report to UKAP Occupational Health Register.
- Risk assessments of HCWs newly diagnosed with BBVs, or possible transmission events, should continue. UKAP recommends that risk assessments are undertaken remotely via teleconference until further notice. The need for cross-matching and patient notification exercises (PNEs) should continue to be discussed with UKAP in accordance with current guidance. The capacity of health services to deliver PNEs, and the risk to patients of a delay in doing so, should be considered as part of the risk assessment.
- Advice from the UKAP secretariat on incident management, health clearance and categorisation of EPPs should still be sought.
Full details can be read here.
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