| The move has been welcomed by the local branch of the Police Federation, which said it would help reduce the trauma suffered by officers who feared they had been exposed to the disease.
The move comes as the Scottish Executive revealed it has dropped plans to give assault victims legal powers to establish if their attacker was infected by HIV or hepatitis.
The local Police Federation branch said it would continue to press for legislation. The issue is to be reviewed in two years.
Secretary Sergeant Malcolm Gibbs said a case involving an officer in Tayside had been put forward to the working group examining the arguments for and against mandatory testing of suspects.
“We had one officer a few years ago who ended up being medically retired following an incident in which he had given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to somebody we suspected would be carrying an blood-borne virus,” he said.
“The officer went through treatment and ended up suffering fairly severe psychiatric illness.
“Until then he had been a strong and fully-fit officer, but dealing with the incident and the trauma of worrying whether he would end up with HIV or with Hepatitis B had a major impact.”
Sergeant Gibbs said the effects of possible exposure to a blood-borne illness went further than just the officer concerned.
“There’s a three-month incubation period where they don’t know if they have contracted anything. That can have an impact on their relationship with their partner and with their children too.”
The working group has agreed that the issue of mandatory testing should be reviewed after an evaluation of how incidents are currently managed.
Sergeant Gibbs said it was also felt that more needed to be done to standardise and improve occupational and NHS care for officers and others exposed to body fluids through assault.
The issue is currently dealt with on a force-by-force basis, and it’s anticipated that new measures will be introduced in Tayside in the coming months.
“In the longer term, we hope that we get some kind of legislation which allows us to compel offenders to have tests, just so we can have early warning (of potential infection),” Sergeant Gibbs said.
“We are also looking at local measures for how we can inoculate officers against things like Hepatitis B, and I understand a project is under way to provide inoculations to officers who come into the job now.
“It’s something we have all been concerned about and I’m pleased.” |
