GLENDA COOPER A member of staff has been suspended from a Norfolk hospital in the wake of

GLENDA COOPER A member of staff has been suspended from a Norfolk hospital in the wake of a warning to thousands of women that their cervical smear tests may have been wrongly interpreted. The James Paget Hospital in Gorleston is rechecking 8,200 smear tests - some as far back as 1993. "Any policy that could reduce the number of healthcare workers wishing to be tested will result in a pool of undiagnosed and unsupported HIV-positive healthcare workers.". The real risks are to medical workers treating HIV patients in the line of duty."In an accompanying editorial to Dr Logie's piece, the BMJ calls for a review of the present policy of the Department of Health, so that more influence would be given to the rights of HIV-positive workers.It says that in some clinical disciplines "it is feasible and sensible" to advise the healthcare worker to continue to practise, and that all risk procedures should be re-examined."A policy which supports healthcare workers is more likely to be more effective than one which excludes and in effect punishes them," the editorial says. "I guess I was just very unlucky," Dr Logie said yesterday.Dr Logie said he wrote the letter to the BMJ for several reasons. "Firstly as a means of 'coming out' and no longer trying to conceal my HIV state which has been a big strain."Second, as his health has remained good, he wished to pursue permanent employment but felt that if he were to do so he would be happier "if I can be completely open about my health".And third, "some family members and close friends have urged me to declare my state both for my personal peace of mind and because I can then be in a position to help people less fortunate".Dr David Goldberg, of the Scottish Centre for Infection in Glasgow, said yesterday: "There are no records anywhere in the world of patients becoming infected by contact with an HIV-positive physician or surgeon and we see no need for mandatory tests. This was shortly followed by two further exposures to HIV-positive blood. Back in Britain he was tested for HIV and the results were positive.

According to official figures, the chances of having become infected were 0.3 per cent. Telling patients might have made them worried about getting infected and there was no cause for worry as there was absolutely no risk."Yesterday Dr Logie said he felt guilty about not revealing that he was HIV-positive while carrying out locum work and said he had decided to go public to ease the increasing strain.In the BMJ article he says: "The advice of the Aids team at my local health board was that the fewer people who knew the better. Provided that I did not perform any invasive procedures there was no reason why I could not continue to practise as a physician and, perhaps controversially, there was no need to inform employing authorities of my HIV state before doing short-term consultant locum jobs."Dr Logie, who is described by the chief medical officer of Borders Health Board as a "much- loved and respected colleague", took early retirement on full pension four years ago during the government programme to reduce the number of National Health Service consultants.He and his wife, Dorothy (who is HIV negative), decided to go to Africa and one year later in Zambia he received a needle stick injury while injecting a patient. With their agreement he was allowed to continue working provided that he did nothing that would put any patient at risk. A doctor who has worked for six health boards since he returned from Zambia in 1993 yesterday revealed that he has been HIV-positive for three years as a result of a needle accident while treating a African patient. Ahead of its publication, Borders Health Board yesterday called a press conference to stress that no patient has been put at risk of infection. The board confirmed, however, that patients treated by Dr Logie, who has taken locum posts since his retirement four years ago, would have been unaware of his condition and has set up a free telephone helpline (0800 281239) to reassure them.A spokesman for the board said: "The doctor informed the health board in the Borders as soon as he knew he was HIV-positive.

Dr Sandy Logie, 57, a retired consultant physician, has written in today's British Medical Journal about his decision to reveal his status. Those who refuse without good cause should face an immediate benefit penalty, the Commons Social Security Committee said, just days after ministers have doubled the penalty to 40 per cent of the personal allowance - almost pounds 20 a week - and extended it to three years. After six months, those hit by the penalty, and those whose claim that they risk violence from an absent partner has been accepted, should be re- visited, the committee said.8 Fourth Report, Social Security Committee, Session 1995-96; HMSO; pounds 13.60. The latest proposals for shaking up the Child Support Agency include requiring lone parents to fill in a maintenance application form when they sign on for the first time. A new "tough but tender" approach to lone parents to halt fraud while ensuring that absent partners pay maintenance was called for yesterday by a cross-party committee of MPs, writes Nicholas Timmins. But she acknowledged that most women were still forced to work part time because of a lack of child care.Figures used by the union-funded Labour Research Department paint a very different picture to that presented by Ms Harkness. The LRD says the gap in pay has narrowed by just 7.9 per cent in 20 years, at which rate "it will take another 55 years before full equality in average earnings is reached".. More than 30 per cent of managers among Opportunity 2000 members were women.

Ms Harkness adduced two main reasons for women's lower earnings: they may not have the qualifications and "personal attributes" that command high wages, or simply they are unable to elicit the same rewards as men for their skills. Ms Harkness points out that the educational attainment of women vis-a-vis men has improved markedly.She believes the change has been the result of a combination of three factors: the effect of equal pay and sex discrimination acts; increases in competitive pressure which discourages discrimination; and a rise in the demand for the goods and services that women typically produce.Liz Bargh, director of Opportunity 2000, said there was clear evidence that more women were occupying managerial positions. Big male earners saw their pay rise by 49 per cent.Almost 21 years after the Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Acts, however, there was still a significant pay gap. The "real winners" are highly paid women, who have seen earnings almost double in real terms since 1973, she says.

The losers are women in low-skilled, part-time work.The other losers were the lowest paid men who saw their pay rise by just 18 per cent over the 20 years, whereas the highest paid women enjoyed a 93 per cent increase. BARRIE CLEMENT Labour Editor The pay of middle-class women is catching up fast with their male colleagues, but the poorest females in part-time work are faring much worse.The hourly earnings of women in full-time jobs rose from 66 per cent of men's earnings in 1974 to 80 per cent by 1992. While the median hourly earnings of men grew by a third between 1973 and 1993, those of full-time female workers grew by more than twice as much in proportional terms, according to Susan Harkness, of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.Although part-time workers also caught up, the gain was not near as great as for women in full-time professional jobs.In a paper, The Gender Earnings Gap, published in the latest issue of Fiscal Studies, Ms Harkness says the gap between the highest and lowest earners has grown for both men and women. It also said the ban came about as a result of its policy of reviewing the safety of all approved pesticides.Zeneca said Roseclear had been used about 40 million times since the product was launched, but it knew of only four cases when Roseclear had hurt people's eyes, and the damage had not been permanent.t Freephone hotline - 0800 118822 for further information.. It is also sold in Ireland and South Africa, whose governments are being notified of the Ministry of Agriculture's decision.The active ingredients in Roseclear, bupirimate, pirimicarb and triforine, are found in other Zeneca pesticides - Nimrod T and Rapid But the ministry said there was no need to ban these brands. Yesterday Zeneca, which still makes the ingredients, said it would take responsibility for the recall.About 600,000 bottles of Roseclear are sold each year; there more than a million in sheds around the country. They will then be mailed packaging material and given the name of three places nearby where they can take their Roseclear.