Guidelines redrafted on informing patients of risk

A Department of Health expert advisory group is redrafting guidelines on informing patients of the risk of exposure to disease or illness as a result of being cared for by an infected health worker.The change comes in the light of news that a dentist with AIDS refused to hand over contact details of all his NHS and private patients on the grounds that it 'breached confidentiality'.Under existing DoH guidelines on AIDS/HIV-infected healthcare workers, health authorities can carry out a 'lookback'exercise to inform patients who may have been exposed to risk.Now advisers are redrafting the guidance so that only those patients considered to be at a realistic risk of infection are part of the lookback.A DoH spokesman said the advisers will first concentrate on redrafting the guidance on dentistry, and guidance for other specialties will follow.