Hospital nurses 'afraid to disclose HIV status': Clearer guidelines sought on employing NHS staff with Aids virus

SOME nurses working in London hospitals have failed to tell managers that they carry the Aids virus for fear of being sacked, a former student nurse claimed yesterday.

Paul Mayho, aged 22, who was diagnosed HIV positive in 1990, said he knew of two qualified nurses working on wards in the capital who had not disclosed their status to senior colleagues.

'One of the nurses is working on a renal unit, where there is a risk to patients of infection from needles and other sharp instruments,' said Mr Mayho, who plans to address the Royal College of Nursing conference debate on HIV and health workers in Harrogate today.

'He would like to ask his occupational health department about being reassigned, but he is too afraid to approach anybody. The other is working on a medical ward,' Mr Mayho said.

Mr Mayho is campaigning for clearer central guidelines on the employment of NHS staff with HIV.

He believes there may be many nurses with the virus who are keeping it a secret because they do not want to jeopardise their careers.

Under present guidelines, occupational health officers may reassign HIV positive staff to other jobs in a hospital. 'But no one has drawn a clear line between what is safe for them to do and what is not safe. So long as the policy is unclear, people are less likely to come forward,' Mr Mayho said.

He claimed it was safe for individuals with the virus to continue nursing under some circumstances without risk to patients. After leaving the Wolfson School of Nursing in London two years ago, before completing his training, Mr Mayho was employed by a private nursing company to look after a teenager recovering from head injuries. His employers knew he was HIV positive.

Earlier yesterday, the RCN conference voted unanimously in favour of criminalising male rape. At present, perpetrators can be convicted only of sexual assault, facing a jail sentence of up to 10 years. Rapists can receive life sentences.

Paul Fisher, of the RCN's Mid Essex branch, said: 'The sex of a rape victim and the perpetrator is irrelevant. Until there is equality of treatment in law, male rape victims will never be given the same facilities or support that female victims currently receive.'

But RCN delegates remained divided over calls to legalise drugs such as cannabis, heroin and cocaine. Jane Pullin, a nurse employed by the Alcohol Advisory Service in London, pointed out that while cigarette smoking claimed 100,000 lives a year, annual deaths due to use of banned drugs was thought to number around 50. 'Decriminalisation would reduce the glamour factor surrounding drugs. It would release huge resources to invest in health education,' she said.

Several delegates spoke passionately against liberalisation however. Steve Wright, a member of the RCN council, said: 'If you remove the constraints and laws you increase the market for drugs and potential for misuse.'