Support for people who may have been affected by infected blood
KEY MESSAGE FOR PATIENTS
•If you are concerned about a possible hepatitis C infection, you can book a home NHS test online. The tests are free and confidential. To receive a self-testing kit which can be quickly dispatched to your home visit hepctest.nhs.uk.
•Hepatitis B is also linked to infected blood, this usually clears up on its own without treatment, but could develop into chronic hepatitis B. Patients can find out more information here – hepatitis B information
•HIV testing is also provided to anyone free of charge on the NHS. Home testing and home sampling kits are also available. You can find out more about HIV testing and the HIV testing services search tool on the NHS website.
•Patients who want more details about the safety of blood from donations in England can find more information here: https://www.blood.co.uk/the-donation-process/further-information/your-safety/
Support for people who may have been affected by infected blood - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
If you had a blood transfusion, blood products or an organ transplant before September 1991, there's a chance you may have been given infected blood. This could mean you were infected with hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV.
Since September 1991, all blood donated in the UK is screened using very rigorous safety standards and testing to protect both donors and patients.
Since screening was introduced, the risk of getting an infection from a blood transfusion or blood products is very low.
NHS Blood and Transplant have more information about the infected blood inquiry