IHC cleared after carer catches hepatitis

The IHC is not to blame for one of its staff catching hepatitis B from a woman she was caring for because it accepted her word she had been immunised, a court has ruled.

The worker, who has name suppression, was providing live-in care for an intellectually disabled Hawkes Bay woman with hepatitis B. The woman was unsteady on her feet and twice fell on the carer with her teeth breaking the carer's skin.

After both injuries the carer sought medical help and was tested for hepatitis B. She said she had been immunised years earlier when she began working as a carer but the test showed that she was not immune to the disease

and the doctor did not tell her. After the second injury the doctor did not refer to the blood test or give her medication to prevent her developing the disease and she was diagnosed with hepatitis B soon after. She suffered kidney and liver failure and eventually needed a liver transplant.

The Department of Labour took the case to court because it believed the woman suffered "serious harm" which Idea Services had failed to take "practicable" steps to prevent.

It said that Idea Services - the IHC's community services provider - should have screened for hepatitis B.

But in a ruling in the Hastings District Court in November, Judge Geoff Rea said it was not practicable for an employer to demand a blood test to prove immunity. He was satisfied the carer had received enough training and Idea Services had done everything that could be realistically expected.

He said the carer claimed to be fully immunised even though she had only one of the three vaccinations needed.

He was "quite sure" the carer thought she was immune because he doubted she would have played "Russian roulette" with her health.

However, all that could be done was to "strongly recommend" screening and Judge Rea found that Idea Services had done that on "many occasions".

Philippa Sellens of IHC New Zealand said a conviction would have had "serious implications" for a number of sectors, not just disability but aged care, corrections and healthcare.