THE number of women who have contacted Gwent health officials for a hepatitis C test, after a retired healthcare worker was found to have passed the virus onto two patients, has risen to 1,400.

And around 1,000 tests have been arranged, with the first of more than 40 testing clinics taking place today.

The healthcare worker was employed at Caerphilly District Miners' Hospital from May 1984-July 2003.

Aneurin Bevan Health Board has carried out a major trawl of thousands of health and hospital records from the period to try to identify patients who were or may have been treated that person, who was unaware they had hepatitis C until it was diagnosed after they retired.

Around 5,000 women from the Gwent area have or will receive a letter offering them the opportunity of a blood test for hepatitis C.

The focus is on major obstetric or gynaecological treatments with which the healthcare worker, who is not being identified, was involved.

In all, around 5,500 patients from across the UK will be contacted, based on areas where the healthcare worker is known to have worked.