Almost 1,000 call over hepatitis fear

Almost 1,000 people phoned a hospital helpline after it was revealed that a trainee surgeon was a carrier of the liver disease, hepatitis B. Health service staff at four hospitals in northern England and Scotland are confident all patients treated by him will have been contacted by the end of the weekend.

One patient has been found with suspicious symptoms folowing surgery. The doctor came to Britain from Nigeria three years ago. He is currently on sick leave. It is not known how he became infected.