I need your support to bring a challenge against a dentist practice that discriminated against me because I am HIV positive and breached confidentiality about my HIV status. People living with HIV have the right under the Equality Act to be treated equally and I think it is important that dentists respect this, if you do too, please support me to bring this challenge. 

Deborah Gold, Chief Executive of National AIDS Trust has issued a statement about this case:

“It is absolutely crucial people living with HIV feel safe and welcome when they access healthcare, and that their confidentiality is protected. There is absolutely no reason for any special measures to be taken for HIV in a medical setting – that is what universal precautions are for. Despite this, we continue to hear enough examples of this type of poor practice that we know that this case is the tip of the iceberg. I urge you to donate to this case if you are able – to help challenge this unfair and stigmatising practise and ensure that we put an end to it once and for all.”

My case 

In 2012, I was diagnosed with HIV and one morning in January 2017 I went to an appointment to register at my local dentist. I completed the medical history form as usual, but when I handed it to the receptionist she consulted with the dentist and nurse. The practice then refused to see me until the last appointment of the day because of my HIV status. The nurse told me this openly even though there were strangers in the waiting room. This has affected me a lot: it has made me feel withdrawn and unable to trust other medical staff. 

NHS England Complaints have confirmed that the practice had an unlawful and discriminatory policy of only seeing people with my medical condition during the last appointment of the day. Charities have shown that this lack of awareness about HIV is quite common in dentist practices and so I am now bringing a case under the Equality Act to try and help stop this from happening to other people and because of the impact it had on me. I want to try and make sure that the practice has better training and awareness so this doesn’t happen in the future.  

The Equality Act specifically protects people living with HIV but few people are able to uphold their rights to stop this happening to anyone else because it is too expensive to bring a case if, like me, you do not qualify for Legal Aid.  

Why is this important? 

The National Aids Trust explains that people living with HIV are more likely to have particular dental problems, and dentists sometimes prescribe medication that may interact badly with HIV medication. 

This means it is particularly important that people living with HIV feel comfortable disclosing their status at the dentist, safe in the knowledge that this will be kept confidential and that they won’t be treated differently as a result. Despite this, research has shown that people living with HIV often face stigma and ignorance at dentist's practices.  

The Terrence Higgins Trust website explains that dentists do not have to take extra care when they have a patient with HIV because they must follow standard procedures for every appointment anyway. They also make the point that it is illogical to treat HIV positive patients differently because a lot of people have HIV without knowing it so dentists should follow universal precautions at every appointment. 

This discrimination seems to have been going on for a long time and so I think it is time to try and change their approach and fight for equality for everyone.  

Ian Green, Chief Executive at Terrence Higgins Trust has issued a statement about this case:

“It’s both shocking and sad that cases like this are still not uncommon within medical settings, and it’s crucial that we continue to challenge them to combat stigma, to ensure people living with HIV don’t experience unfair treatment when accessing services.

We absolutely support this case, and all efforts to ensure that people living with HIV are treated equally, with dignity and respect when visiting the dentist or taking part in any other kind of medical procedure.”

How can you help?

So far I have been trying to bring the case by myself. This has been very stressful and now the solicitors for the dentist have said that they are going to apply to strike out my case and they might come after me for their legal fees if I do not give them more information. I cannot prepare this by myself so I have now instructed a solicitor at Deighton Pierce Glynn to represent me. Please help me raise sufficient funds to stop my case from being struck out by pledging what you can. 

How much am I raising and why?

I need to raise £4,000 by 23^rd March to allow my solicitors to agree to stay my case so that it is not struck out, to negotiate with the dentist’s solicitors and pay any Court fees. This will also protect me if the dentist’s solicitors manage to strike out my case and pursue me for their legal costs. I will carry on fundraising if they do not negotiate or it doesn’t bring the required results. 

The money raised will go to my solicitors (who are working at a discounted rate) to cover the work on this case and so that there is money available if I have to pay any of the dentist’s legal fees. If there is any unused money, e.g. because we win the case, this will go to the Access to Justice Foundation to try and prevent others from going through my experience of representing myself at Court. 

Please help my legal campaign for equal treatment for all and spread the word by sharing online. Thank you for your support.