Warning over faulty pregnancy tests

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Some women given a test in UK hospitals may actually be pregnant even though they were given a negative result. There are also fears that some of the tests, which have been in circulation since March, may have been used in GP surgeries and clinics.

Patients at around 50 hospitals across the UK are affected by the warning over Clearview HCG tests, made by Inverness Medical Innovations. One batch - LOT HG0050 - which was distributed to UK hospitals between March and April this year, was found to be faulty with investigations indicating 44 tests were affected.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said any woman worried about her test should contact her GP or hospital, or carry out another test at home.

Unipath, a division of Inverness Medical Innovations, recalled the tests but said home testing kits bought at pharmacies were not affected.

A spokeswoman for the company refused to name the affected hospitals, saying they were customers and the company protected their confidentiality. Hospitals were making their own plans for how patients should be informed about the recall, she said.

But a spokeswoman for the Patients' Association criticised Unipath's decision not to release hospital names, which could leave thousands of women across the UK panicking.

She said: "This is one of the most important tests that women take and it's important that they have absolute confidence in this. For the company and anyone else not to be frank about the situation is not on."

A statement from Unipath said: "Unipath is confident that the problem has been correctly diagnosed and is now being rectified by changes to the manufacturing process.

"We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this recall may have caused to our customers or their patients."