Blood-borne Virus Testing in the ED
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A qualitative study to assess the acceptability and feasibility of blood-borne virus testing in an Emergency Department setting
IRAS ID
192680
Contact name
Lucy Cullen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Public Health England
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
The proportion of individuals infected with HIV, HCV and HBV who remain undiagnosed and untreated in the UK is a major public health concern. Individuals with undiagnosed and untreated BBV infection are at increased risk of developing severe health complications and premature mortality, as well as transmitting the infection to others. Early diagnosis, referral and linkage to care are fundamental to both improving long term health outcomes for those infected, as well as the broader public health benefit of reducing onward transmission.
Emergency Departments offer a potentially important point of testing. It has been estimated that around one in four of the national population attend emergency departments in any one year. Emergency departments may also be the first point of contact with healthcare services for people who have not registered with GPs. These individuals are likely to include those at increased risk of BBV infections including migrants, people who are homeless or experiencing insecure housing, and people who currently or in the past have injected drugs.
In National HIV-Hepatitis testing week this year (21st-29th Nov 2015), the Royal London Hospital’s Accident and Emergency is to launch a routine opt-out combined BBV testing initiative. All ED attendees over the age of 18 having routine bloods will be offered opt-out BBV tests for HIV, HCV and HBV. Linking with this intervention, this study will qualitatively explore the acceptability and feasibility of combined BBV testing in the ED setting for attendees and ED service providers. We will conduct interviews with ED attendees who accept and those who decline the combined BBV test, and ED staff involved in implementing the intervention. We will also interview ED staff in a second hospital site where there is no current or planned BBV testing intervention in place. Study findings will be used to critically inform recommendations on the development of a model of universal opt-out testing for BBV in the ED setting, and future target research on the implementation and scale-up of routine opt-out BBV testing in hospital Emergency Departments. This study is part of a wider research programme to assess the feasibility of BBV testing in the ED setting, and to inform the development of interventions and diagnostic tools that will facilitate effective and efficient early access to care and treatment of BBVs.REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0033
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jan 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion