RESIDENTS at a Worcester care home are being tested for tuberculosis after an employee contracted the potentially fatal infection.

An anonymous whistleblower contacted your Worcester News this week to say someone working at Teme Court Residential Care in Old Road, Lower Wick had been diagnosed with the bacterial infection and all residents were now due to being tested.

Although the employee is now believed to be on sick leave, the woman said other people working at the home were concerned he had worked in close proximity to many of the residents, many of whom suffer from dementia and similar conditions.

“Staff members are extremely worried as he has been in close proximity to them for a while.”

A spokesman from Public Health England told your Worcester News the organisation’s West Midlands Health Protection Team were working closely with the home’s management to screen all residents and staff and letters were being sent to all family members to inform them of the situation.

A Teme Court spokesman said: “We take the health and wellbeing of our residents and staff very seriously and we are keen to assist Public Health England in any way we can to reassure people and provide them with any information or support necessary.”

Public Health England consultant Dr Tina Maddison said everyone who had been in close proximity to the man was being screened for the infection.

“Screening will be conducted as a precaution only and we are liaising closely with the management of Teme Court and Worcestershire TB nurses to ensure that the best advice and support is provided for all concerned,” she said.

“TB is a serious disease but the risk of catching TB infection is very small.

“It requires prolonged and close contact with somebody who has TB, such as someone living in the same house, and it can be completely cured with a course of antibiotics.”

The employee is said to be on a course on antibiotics and is “expected to respond well”.

TB mainly affects the lungs and is spread through inhaling the coughs and sneezes. Symptoms include persistent phlegmy or bloody coughs, weight loss, night sweats, fever, swelling and fatigue.

In November 2013 Teme Court was subject to a damning Care Quality Commission report, with concerns including residents being “dragged” across the room by their walking frames and basic cleaning not being carried out.

But the latest report into the home, carried out in July 2014, gave it a clean bill of health, with inspectors finding it met standards in all six criteria.

A Public Health England report issued in March last year said 7,892 cases of the disease were reported in the UK in 2013, which was described as “unacceptably high”.