Management of HIV infected health care workers: lessons from three cases

Three cases in which doctors in Glasgow were diagnosed as having HIV infection were all handled differently in relation to telling patients and the media. In the first patients were not told because the doctor had been doing administrative work and there was thought to be no risk to patients; althou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ 1996-05, Vol.312 (7039), p.1150-1153
Main Authors: Pell, Jill, Gruer, Laurence, Christie, Peter, Goldberg, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AIDS/HIV
Bioethics
Confidentiality
Contact Tracing
Counseling
Disclosure
Disease transmission
Education & Debate
Emergency medical care
Hepatitis
HIV
HIV infections
HIV Infections - diagnosis
HIV Infections - therapy
Hospital-Patient Relations
Hospitals
Hotlines
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
Infections
Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient
Institutional Management Teams
Letters
Male
Managed care
Medical personnel
Medical specialists
Medical Staff, Hospital
Medical tests
News media
Patient confidentiality
Physicians
Press conferences
Primary care
Recommendations
Risk Factors
Risk Management
Scotland
Surgeons
Tuberculosis
Workers
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Summary:Three cases in which doctors in Glasgow were diagnosed as having HIV infection were all handled differently in relation to telling patients and the media. In the first patients were not told because the doctor had been doing administrative work and there was thought to be no risk to patients; although the media did report the case, it accepted the assurances given. In the second case, where a doctor had done many jobs in different specialities and places, the media identified the doctor before most patients had been informed: most calls to the helpline subsequently set up by the health authority were from patients who had not been treated by this doctor. This episode, however, allowed the incident team to be prepared for the next case, enabling the helpline to be established swiftly. In this case the doctor voluntarily identified himself, and this served to allay public fears and reduce the number of inappropriate calls to the helpline.
ISSN:0959-8138
0959-8146
1468-5833
1756-1833
DOI:10.1136/bmj.312.7039.1150