Nigerian Health Blog

Hepatitis B and Employment in the UK: Can someone with hepatitis B work as a nurse in UK?

The exact topic of this article is the intellectual property of www.nimedhealth.com.ng

Hepatitis B is a vaccine preventable liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is spread when blood, semen, or other body fluids from a person infected with the virus enters the body of someone who is not infected.

In the UK, your hepatitis B status is required for the following:

✓ Pre-employment
✓For students who will enter medical internship
✓ Health-care workers like doctors , nurses, lab scientist etc

𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

𝗤uestion: Can I be terminated from employment in the UK if I am infected with Hepatitis B virus as a nurse, a lab scientist or a doctor?

𝗔nswer: No. Hepatitis B status should not be used to deny employment to workers. Workers shall not be terminated from work or be subjected to discrimination on the basis of actual (evidenced based), perceived or suspected Hepatitis B status.

👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿

That you are hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV positive does not prevent you from working as a nurse, doctor or lab scientist in the UK , USA or even Nigeria….the reason for the pre-employment medical tests for hepatitis b or HIV is only to k ow your status before starting you job, it is not meant to screen you out of the job….

Again, the outcome of the hepatitis b,HIV or hepatitis C tests will not stop you from getting the job if you have been employed as a nurse or doctor.

If you are hepatitis B positive and you are aspiring to be a nurse or doctor or any other profession in the health sector, don’t be deterred, go ahead and become one, there is no UK law that prevents you from working as a nurse if you are hepatitis b positive.

You can go ahead and sue any hospital that denies you job on account of your hepatitis b status. It is against the UK law. There are even advocacy groups that are against pre-employment testing for infectious diseases like hepatitis B, C or HIV citing it as discriminatory.

Hepatitis B does not hinder your employment in the UK or United States.

I hope you found this useful?

Dr Udomoh ESHEMOKHA wrote this.