An inoculation injury is known as Body Fluid Exposure (BFE) involves an exposure to blood or bodily fluids either through a break in the skin, or mucous membranes:
- A percutaneous exposure is where a needle / sharp object that has already been used on a patient, a human scratch or bite has broken the skin.
- A mucocutaneous exposure is where the mucous membranes i.e., mouth, nose or eyes or non-intact skin have been contaminated by blood or bodily fluids from a patient.
Occupational Health will carry out a risk assessment following the exposure, advise on actions necessary including a blood test and in some cases a vaccination. Medication to protect against the risk of HIV is now very rarely prescribed for prevention / prophylaxis as in most cases it is no longer required.
They will also follow up screening as appropriate in line with initial risk assessment.
- 08:30 - 16:30 Monday to Friday contact Occupational Health straight away on x 2404
- 16:30 - 08:30 Monday to Friday, and Weekends - go to the Emergency Department at St. Peter’s (please take details of the patient involved with you). Then call Occupational Health when the department re-opens. Then call Occupational Health when the department re-opens (you can email us to get a call back at
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - please mark it "BFE urgent").
For staff based at sites other than St Peter's
- Contact your ward manager or the Site Nurse Practitioner.
- A HIV and Hep Cab screen should be taken for you / the employee (1 x gold top bottle). If the employee does not consent to this then take a serum save form the employee (1 x gold top bottle)
- Consent to take a patient’s blood should be obtained by the ward manager, NIC, SNP or a doctor (**Hepatitis B sAg, HIV 1+2, Hepatitis C sAb = 1 x gold top bottle).
- Call occupational health on x 2404 for a risk assessment by one of the OH advisers in hours.
- If the patient is considered to be high risk for these diseases / known to be actively infected ** then you must telephone ED out of hours and then go to ED for assessment straight away.
Other Organisations
- We do not provide inoculation injury services for the public and they must go straight to the Emergency Department at St. Peter’s.
- For companies that have contracts with us for this as part of other occupational services, there are pre-existing procedures in place for managing these injuries and their employees should speak to the Nurse In Charge for their Ward / Department. Out of hours these staff must also go to the Emergency Department.
