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To: Registered Medical Practitioners In Surrey and Sussex West Sussex Office 44-45 West Street Chichester West Sussex PO19 1RP Tel: 01243 770772 Fax: 01243 815536 Date: 18 June 2010 www.hpa.org.uk Dear Colleagues, Re: Changes to public health law regarding Notification of Infectious Diseases. I am writing to let you know about changes to the public health law regarding notifications of infectious diseases which came into force on 6th April 2010. The newly published Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010 continue the long standing legal requirement for Registered Medical Practitioners (RMP) to notify the ‘Proper Officer’ of the Local Authority of suspected cases of certain infectious diseases. For the RMP, the new regulations make the following relevant changes: An updated list of ‘notifiable diseases’ Notification of other infections or contamination that in the view of the RMP ‘presents or could present significant harm to human health’ e.g chemical or radioactive material contamination Additional information required from the RMP for each notification Written notifications are required to be sent within 3 days of the infection or contamination first being suspected Urgent notifications should be notified by telephone to the Health Protection Unit (HPU) as soon as possible following clinical suspicion or diagnosis and always within 24 hours. These should be followed by written notification within 3 days. Payment for notifications has been removed I have enclosed a new notification form for your use with immediate effect, which can be photocopied. The new list of ‘notifiable diseases’ (Schedule 1) is included on the reverse of the form along with guidance in determining the urgency of a case. As before, RMP’s do not need to wait for laboratory confirmation before notification. From now onwards you can fax or post notifications to the nearest Sussex and Surrey HPU office, whose contact details are given on the notification form. The new notification form can be found at http://www.hpa.org.uk/ProductsServices/LocalServices/SouthEast/RegionalPublications/GuidelinesInf ormationAndOtherReports/ . Please securely dispose of any old notification books that you may have, or return them to the nearest HPU office. Notification of infections not included in Schedule 1, and contamination are expected to be exceptional occurrences. Factors the RMP may wish to consider in deciding whether to notify these cases include the risk of transmission or spread to others, and the potential to cause significant harm to human health. For your information the Department of Health guidance titled ‘Health Protection Legislation (England) Guidance 2010’ can be found at http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidan ce/DH_114510 We plan to have an electronic system later this year and will keep you informed of progress. We hope this information is helpful, but please ring me if you have any queries or concerns. Thank you for your help with these changes. Yours sincerely, Dr Angela Iversen GMC Number: 2461708 Unit Director/Consultant in Communicable Disease Control Sussex and Surrey Health Protection Unit CC: 1. PCT and SHA Directors of Public Health, Surrey and Sussex 2. Medical Directors of Acute Trusts, Surrey and Sussex 3. Consultant Microbiologists, Surrey and Sussex
