Hundreds of hospital patients were left fearing for their health after a former Birmingham doctor with HIV hid his condition from bosses.

Almost 400 people were offered blood tests when Tamas Nyary's status emerged.

The 45-year-old, from Hungary, used to work at Heartlands Hospital , where he tested his own blood using a patient's name in an apparent attempt to confirm his condition.

He also used another patient's blood to pass off as his own and gain employment, NottinghamshireLive reported .

But the blood test switch sparked an investigation which led to Nyary, who also worked at hospitals in Nottingham and Lincoln, being suspended.

Now he has been handed a 12-month suspended jail sentence after admitting charges of forgery and using a false instrument; causing a computer to perform a function to secure unauthorised access to a programme or data twice; fraud; and twice using a false instrument.

Passing sentence at Nottingham Crown Court, Judge Stuart Rafferty QC told Nyas his actions were selfish and fuelled by his own self-interest.

"People have been placed in fear that, because of contact with you, they may have become infected and, no doubt, as you have over the years when you tested, waiting for their result is an agonising process," he said.

The court earlier heard Nyary felt unable to reveal his homosexuality or even the risk that he might have HIV due to his embarrassment and the draconian society he came from.

But when it emerged that he was HIV positive, officials were forced to contact 397 of his patients and offer them a blood test.

The patients contacted included 223 from Nottingham. The rest were from Chesterfield and Cornwall.

All samples taken eventually proved negative.

Are there laws against passing on HIV?

A number of people in the UK have been prosecuted and jailed for transmitting HIV to their sexual partners.

All of the prosecutions in England and Wales to date have been brought under Section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act.

This act came into law in 1861 and so was not designed to deal with cases of HIV transmission.

In England and Wales, you may be found guilty of reckless HIV transmission if all of the below apply:

  • You had sex with someone who didn’t know you had HIV.
  • You knew you had HIV at that time.
  • You understood how HIV is transmitted.
  • You had sex without a condom.
  • You transmitted HIV to that person.
A blood sample being held with a row of samples

But what about medical professionals having HIV?

The UK Government through Public Health England (PHE) has recently updated its guidance on the Management of HIV infected Healthcare Workers (HCWs) who perform exposure prone procedures.

It is estimated by Saving Lives, an HIV awareness charity, that 110 people are HIV-positive and working in the NHS.

Today, the truth is that it is virtually impossible to catch HIV from someone who is HIV-positive and receiving treatment.

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What do the experts say?

"People living with HIV who are on stable effective treatment will have undetectable levels of virus in their blood," says Dr Steve Taylor, an HIV specialist at Birmingham Heartlands hospital and medical director of Saving Lives.

"That means the risk of their blood infecting another person through a needle-stick injury is almost nothing.

"There have only been four cases worldwide of people being infected by a healthcare worker and those cases were in the early days before treatment was available.

"The risk of transmission of HIV to healthcare professionals is infinitely higher."

So, who should you disclose the information to?

Partners - It's important to disclose your HIV status to your sex partner(s) and anyone you shared needles with, even if you are not comfortable doing it.

Health Care Providers - Your health care providers (doctors, clinical workers, dentists, etc.) have to know about your HIV status in order to be able to give you the best possible care. It's also important that healthcare providers know your HIV status so that they don't prescribe medication for you that may be harmful when taken with your HIV medications.

Family and Friends - In most cases, your family and friends will not know your test results or HIV status unless you tell them yourself. While telling your family that you have HIV may seem hard, you should know that disclosure actually has many benefits—studies have shown that people who disclose their HIV status respond better to treatment than those who don't.

Employers - In most cases, your employer will not know your HIV status unless you tell them. But your employer does have a right to ask if you have any health conditions that would affect your ability to do your job or pose a serious risk to others. If you have health insurance through your employer, the insurance company cannot legally tell your employer that you have HIV.