This year’s World AIDS Day (1 December 2025) highlights the importance of early diagnosis and access to treatment in ending HIV transmission.
More than 180 people attending Emergency Departments (EDs) in Bristol and Weston-super-Mare have been newly diagnosed with a blood borne virus (BBV), including HIV, through an innovative opt-out testing scheme.
Since the programme launched a year ago, over 72,000 patients who had blood samples taken as part of their emergency care have also been tested for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
The opt-out initiative, introduced at Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI), Southmead Hospital and Weston General Hospital (WGH) adult EDs, aims to identify people living with undiagnosed BBVs and connect them with specialist care as early as possible.
Early treatment prevents complications in the future, so it is vital people are identified as soon as possible.
HIV has very few symptoms but left untreated can lead to a weakened immune system an increase the risk of opportunistic infections and eventually lead to AIDS.
Viral hepatitis is usually a silent disease until patients develop either liver failure or liver cancer, both of which can be completely prevented by early antiviral treatment.
Funded by NHS England (NHSE) and run jointly by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) and North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), the opt-out approach means that all routine blood samples are automatically screened for these viruses, unless a patient chooses not to take part.
In the first year of the scheme:
- Over 72,000 ED patients were tested, including:
- 34,000 at Southmead Hospital
- 25,000 at the BRI
- 12,000 at WGH
The percentage of people who attended an ED, had their blood sample taken and consented to the BBV testing was high overall, with all three EDs testing at or above the national average (70%):
- 80% at Southmead Hospital
- 77% at Bristol Royal Infirmary
- 70% at Weston General Hospital
All patients who were newly diagnosed with HIV have now begun treatment. Among those newly diagnosed with hepatitis B, 85% have started treatment, and 84% of those newly diagnosed with hepatitis C have also initiated treatment.