The roll-out of opt-out testing across forty-seven sites nationwide hits the West Midlands today. All patients aged 16 and over attending the emergency department at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital will now be routinely tested for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections if they are already having a blood test taken.
Staff Nurse Laura Hyslop, Patient Diana Pell, Dr Victoria Siddons, Emergency Department consultant, Dr Steve Taylor, Lead HIV consultant and Clinical Director for the Birmingham Fast Track Cities (credit UHB NHS)
This fantastic progress will soon also be rolled out to other hospitals across the city and region, and indeed elsewhere in the country, following opt-out testing’s successful trialling in thirty-four pilot sites. That programme saw 4,500 people newly diagnosed with one or more of these blood-borne viruses.
Dr Victoria Siddons, Emergency Department consultant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham said:
“This is a fantastic programme, and long overdue; we simply want to normalise testing for BBVs as much as possible. It should just be routine as it is for all pregnant women. The benefits of early diagnosis are very clear.”
“Routine opt-out testing for HIV and hepatitis for everyone already having bloods taken in the emergency departments of our hospitals is likely to identify hundreds of people who are unknowingly carrying these viruses.”
An opt-out testing poster that will displayed in the hospital’s emergency departments
At Saving Lives, we are especially excited that every hospital in our home city of Birmingham – and many sites across the wider West Midlands region – will soon be testing so many more people and thus saving so many more lives. Our Positive Peers service is already on-hand at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to support those learning their status for the first time – and of course patients who have been engaged with care for many years.
Rachel Greeves, Saving Lives’ Positive Peers Manager commented:
“Opt-out testing will ensure that many more people receive the diagnosis they need to access the care that will save their lives. Peer support is an essential element of that care – and here in Birmingham we’ve worked from the grassroots up to be ready for this important moment.”
Opt-out testing offers an important opportunity to transform and enhance the care we offer to people living with HIV, and hepatitis B and C alike.
Dr Steve Taylor, Saving Lives’ Medical Director and Lead HIV consultant at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, who has campaigned for years for opt-out testing, said:
“This will be an absolute game-changer for Birmingham, the West Midlands and other cities around the UK joining the programme.”
“Early diagnosis of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C is crucial, as for all of these infections, it can be years before a person might show any signs or symptoms, by which time, significant damage to their bodies may have already occurred. Our current medications are lifesaving for HIV and hepatitis B, and we can even cure hepatitis C.”
“Successful treatment of HIV means a person cannot pass the virus on to their sexual partners, they may have children, and can expect to live long and healthy lives.”
For more information please visit the University Hospitals Birmingham website.
