A&E patients to be tested for HIV and hepatitis

HIV and hepatitis tests will be offered to all adults who need blood tests in a hospital's emergency department

Patients in a hospital's emergency department are to be tested for blood-borne viruses like HIV.

The pilot project at Kettering General Hospital (KGH) in Northamptonshire will identify patients who need extra tests and provide research data.

People will be able to opt out of the tests if they do not want them.

Sexual health consultant Dr Sophie Herbert said normalising testing would "help reduce stigma".

The testing programme is part of an NHS drive to eliminate transmission rates of HIV and hepatitis C by 2030.

Elton John's Aids foundation set the ball rolling with a three-year testing pilot programme in three London boroughs, which the singer said "showed beyond a doubt that opt-out testing works in A&E".

The NHS then introduced the tests in five areas with high rates of HIV and, in its first 21 months, 676 people were diagnosed with the virus.

More than 3,600 were found to have hepatitis B or C.

Another 47 sites are now being added to the programme, including KGH.

Elton John's Aids foundation funded a pilot testing project in London boroughs

Northamptonshire has been chosen because the county has a high prevalence of HIV, with 2 cases per 1,000 people in North Northamptonshire and 2.5 per 1,000 in the West Northamptonshire area.

The KGH project is a collaboration between the hospital and Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation NHS Trust (NHFT).

The tests will be introduced at Kettering General Hospital's emergency department in November

The HIV and hepatitis tests will be offered to all adults who attend KGH's emergency department and need blood tests unless they opt out.

The NHFT said the results would be anonymised and "only those with reactive tests for HIV or hepatitis B and C will be contacted for further testing and specialist support".

Consultant Dr Sophie Herbert said the testing would "reach patients who might not otherwise come forward".

NHFT consultant Dr Sophie Herbert said: "Opt-out testing is proving to be effective both in identifying and providing care to people with blood-borne infections like HIV and hepatitis who were unaware of their diagnosis or had become disengaged with care.

"By normalising testing as part of an emergency department attendance when blood is drawn, we help reduce stigma for these conditions and reach patients who might not otherwise come forward.

"It will also help reduce the number of people presenting with late infections and help reduce their prevalence in our communities."

Northampton General Hospital also plans to launch testing later this year.