HEPATITIS C DENTIST PRACTISING IN SWEDEN

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HEPATITIS C DENTIST PRACTISING IN SWEDEN

11:00 - 08 September 2007

A dentist who was struck off for not declaring he had Hepatitis C has been allowed to practice in Sweden.Sigvard 'Skip' Hicks, practised in Torbay for 10 years at a number of practices including Avenue, Newton Road, Commerce House, Abbey Road, before moving on to Madrepore Road, but after taking time off for illness he finally returned to Falkenberg, Sweden.But the Herald Express has learned that Mr Hicks has set up a practice in Sweden.Per Ola sson, the news editor of Hallands Nyheter, a daily newspaper in Falkenberg, said that Mr Hicks was now working in Sweden.

He said: "Apparently he has been through an investigation with the authorities here and that has resulted in him being allowed to work here because they rate the risk of infection as low, so he can work."It has been to the national health board, the Socialstyrelsen, and they say he can work because the risk is low."He declared his illness to the local authority and he has been very open about it and they have gone through his case very carefully," he said.The Herald Express tried to speak to Mr Hicks, but he refused to speak from his flat in Falkenberg.But Mr Hicks's former brother-in-law Dr JP Bjork, who now runs the Marsden Lodge in Madrepore Road, the last practice where Mr Hicks worked, said he was 'shocked' by the dentist's dismissal.He said: "I knew he had a liver condition but I didn't know what it was, no one did."We were told by the Torbay Care Trust earlier in the week and we are passing that information on to patients."Dr Bjork is passing on to patients the same information the PCT is giving out and he stressed 'the risk of transmission is low'.He added that only two patients had contacted the practice directly and that he had taken on around 200 of Mr Hicks' former patients.

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