Nurse died of Aids seven years after needle prick

Juliet Young accidentally pricked her thumb on a needle after it slipped when she was taking the sample.

The 42-year-old, who lived in Kennington, was testing the patient's blood sugar levels as she suspected he was having a hypoglycaemic attack.

The hospital room was not equipped with the specialist disposable device usually used for HIV patients, so she used a different type of needle, Southwark coroner's court was told.

Soon after the accident on 3 June 1999 at Maudsley Mental Health Hospital in Denmark Hill, she was diagnosed with the African strain of HIV.

She went on to develop Aids and died of pneumonia in January last year, the inquest heard.

The Glasgow-born nurse, who had studied the cello for three years at the London Guildhall Music School, spent her last days at Trinity Hospice in Clapham. Her sister Abigail Young told the court: "The whole family was with her. She wasn't coherent but she knew that we were all there."

Colleagues paid tribute to her at the hearing. One, Sharon Fox, said: "She was a very funny presence on the ward and a stickler for making sure patients got the best possible treatment."

Her GP Dr Raja Sinha, of the Maddock-Way surgery in Walworth, asked that his fee for preparing a report for the coroner be donated to the hospice.

A spokesman for The South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This is a tragic and unusual incident. Juliet Young was a valued member of staff and we would like to extend our sincere condolences to her family and friends."

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death. About 100 health care workers worldwide are thought to have become infected through accidental exposure to HIV, according to data from Imperial College London.

About 1.5per cent of hospital inpatients in London are thought to be HIV-positive. The risk of transmission following a needlestick accident with HIV positive blood is approximately 300/1, but could be as high as 30/1for a deep injury with injection of blood.

The risk from a blood splash onto a mucous membrane, for example into the eye, is 3,000/1 according to Imperial.

Deborah Jack, chief of the National Aids Trust, said there had only ever been five reported cases of health care workers accidentally contracting HIV in the UK. None since 2003.

She said: "We want to reassure healthcare workers the risk of HIV transmission from a patient is extremely small. In the unlikely event that someone is inadvertently exposed to risk, such as a needlestick injury, there is treatment widely available."