Health: Needlestick Injuries Debate
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Lord Patel
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Health: Needlestick Injuries
Lord Patel Excerpts(13 years, 4 months ago)
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Lord Freud
My Lords, it is important to make health and safety proportionate. This is a very particular problem. People cut themselves regularly. However, the issue is not that you cut yourself but that you infect yourself. The numbers are rather small, and it would be disproportionate to widen this out further than the directive because we already have well established safety procedures that are applicable more generally.
Lord Patel
Can the Minister clarify the employment status of people who are HIV carriers? As I understand it, the new regulation allows people who are carriers of HIV to work in the health service, including as surgeons.
Lord Freud
My Lords, I am outside my personal sphere of expertise on that particular question. I will have to write on that matter.