OVER the past 10 weeks Aneurin Bevan Health board has tested around 3,000 people for hepatitis c.

In what has been a well-documented case, the health board offered the tests to 5,500 women after discovering that a now-retired healthcare worker had been infected.

The health board set up a telephone help line and organised more than 40 clinics to offer blood tests to former patients who wanted them.

And now it has been revealed that two more women were found to have contracted hepatitis c, on top of two known cases.

This must be very distressing for the women involved and our thoughts are with them. But, thankfully the numbers are very small.

We argued at the time this was a health warning which should not turn into a panic and due to diligent handling from start to finish, that is how it turned out.

Aneurin Bevan Health Board dealt with this situation very well.

Firstly, it was very open about what had happened and, due to the painstaking work of staff, tracked down all former patients who had come into contact with the worker concerned.

It then made sure information was put out in as calm a way as possible and follow-up advice offered immediately.

It must have been shocking to receive such a letter, but the board’s actions have minimised the worry, and for that it deserves praise.