Opt-out A&E HIV testing a success says Northamptonshire NHS Trust

Following success at A&E departments in various other regions across the UK, including Birmingham, opt-out testing for HIV and Hepatitis (B and C) was also introduced to Kettering General Hospital (KGH) and Northampton General Hospital (NGH), and has been declared a success by Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. A research project to test patients in hospitals' emergency departments for blood-borne viruses including HIV has helped 183 patients get support since its introduction towards the end of 2024, the NHS trust said.

HIV and hepatitis opt-out testing is being researched in 2 Northamptonshire emergency departments

Dr Ajay Verma, the director of research and innovation at University Hospitals Northamptonshire, said: "The expansion of routine testing for HIV and hepatitis in our emergency departments is enabling more patients to be identified and treated for these conditions as early as possible."

The study at the two hospitals is part of an opt-out screening programme being carried out at 34 hospital sites across the country, in which all patients (over the age of 18) who need blood tests while attending emergency departments will be screened unless they have explicitly opted-out. The opt-out research testing was due to last a year but has now been funded for a further year.

Northamptonshire was chosen as part of the research due to the county's high prevalence of HIV, with two cases per 1,000 people in north Northamptonshire and 2.5 per 1,000 in the west Northamptonshire area. The scheme has so far helped identify 25 new patients with HIV in the county, 69 with blood-borne viral Hepatitis B, and 89 with blood-borne viral Hepatitis C.

Dr Sophie Herbert, a consultant with NHFT's sexual health services, said: "The research is showing that opt-out testing in emergency departments is proving to be effective both in identifying, and then helping us to provide care, to people with blood-borne viral infections such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

"Many of these patients were unaware of their diagnosis or had become disengaged with care and have now been able to re-engage to get the treatment they need."