Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison staff contracted Hepatitis C from prisoners in each year since 2009-10.

We take the safety of those in our care and our staff extremely seriously. There have been no reported cases of Hepatitis C transmission from prisoner to staff since 2009 to date.

HMPPS staff receive education and training on safe systems of work which reduces the risk of staff contracting Hepatitis C. Use of blood spillage kits are used by trained individuals only.

There is no preventative vaccine to protect against Hepatitis C therefore post exposure management such as immediate first aid followed by appropriate risk assessment is essential. There is a specialist team in HMPPS which can deal with such incidents.