Save more than just a scratch
With the prevalence of HIV increasing in the UK year on year and the restriction for dentists to practise with the virus in the UK; the EU Directive now in force; to prevent the one million needlestick injuries each year in Europe; could actually do more than protect you from a simple scratch.
The new UK legislation requires healthcare professionals to assess the risk of needlestick injuries and control it – but are the risks really worthy of the Directive? Unless you can be certain that your patient is not infected with a blood-borne virus, sustaining a needlestick injury could give you more than you bargained for, and having effective protocols in place to enable staff to act quickly is essential.
Unless it happens to you, the threat of infection from viruses such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV may not be at the forefront of your mind. But it’s important to be aware of the facts: In 2012, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) revealed that the number of people living in the UK with HIV actually increased by an estimated 4,500 (from 91,500 to 95,000) from the previous year and that 24 per cent of the total were unaware of their infection.
David Jones, Head of Claims and Underwriting at Dentists’ Provident, is currently overseeing at least half a dozen income protection claims where members have contracted HIV.
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