Infected blood inquiry – Hepatitis C testing

Although it is likely that the majority of people directly affected by infected blood have now been identified and started appropriate treatment, there may be people who have not yet been identified, particularly where they are living with asymptomatic Hepatitis C. People who had blood transfusions might not have considered these risks before or sought testing.

The Inquiry report recommends that people who received blood transfusions up until 1996 should be offered a blood test for Hepatitis C if they have not been tested before (primary care teams may have noticed that previous guidance set the date as before September 1991).

Patients can be tested using at-home Hepatitis C self-testing kits, which are available via https://hepctest.nhs.uk/  for anyone over the age of 18 and living in England. Any positive results from at-home testing are dealt with by local Operational Delivery Networks and passed to specialist hepatology teams, who arrange to contact the patient, notify them of their results and manage their care and treatment.

Further resources for Hepatitis C care, including a Primary Care Toolkit are available via Hep C U Later.