Midwife is HIV positive

London - Sixty former patients were yesterday sent urgent letters offering them blood tests and counselling after a midwife told…

London - Sixty former patients were yesterday sent urgent letters offering them blood tests and counselling after a midwife told health chiefs she was HIV positive.

The woman, who has not been named, has been suspended from her job in the maternity unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

Within hours of being told, at least 10 had undergone tests and nearly 400 others had rung a helpline set up to offer advice and reassure women. Health experts yesterday reassured mothers that the risk of infection is "very low".

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