Thousands of patients of a dentist in Nottingham are to be recalled amid concerns that they may have been infected with HIV and other blood-borne viruses.
The dentist, who is yet to be named, treated patients over a 32-year-old period. It is believed that he is not HIV positive and that the risk to patients is low; however experts have recommended that all patients of the dentist should be screened.
NHS England has confirmed the dentist has been suspended from his post.
The Daily Mirror reported how the dentist was suspended in June when he was filmed allegedly breaching infection control standards. The whistleblower alerted authorities and health chiefs launched an investigation into the footage, later calling in officials from Public Health England, who conducted a clinical risk assessment and determined that patients might have been put at risk of infection from HIV and other blood-borne viruses including hepatitis B and C.
An emergency walk-in centre is being assembled in Nottinghamshire to deal with the expected flurry of concerned patients. A separate hotline is also being set up to advise people treated at the practice.
Amarjit Gill, of the British Dental Association, called the recall “a sensible precaution”.