Infectious Diseases and Microbiology

We specialise in the diagnosis and management of infectious diseases. We aim to give holistic care, and unlike many branches of medicine we are not limited to one organ system or type of illness.

Our current base is ward 7 at Bradford Royal Infirmary, a 12-bed ward of side-room accommodation where we manage patients with infections or patients where infection is part of the differential diagnosis. We also accept patients who may not have an infection but need to be nursed in a side room for infection control reasons.

We are responsible for any medical patients who are placed on surgical wards 8, 20, 21, 26, 27, and 28.

In addition to managing our own patients, we offer a daily referral and infection advice service for patients who are under the care of other specialties.

During the working day we support the microbiology service in communicating significant microbiology results to clinical teams and providing antibiotic advice. One consultant, Dr Omar Rahama, works jointly for the Microbiology department and Infectious Diseases. Dr Sulman Hasnie works full-time in Microbiology. We provide an on-call microbiology infection advice service in partnership with Airedale Hospital.

We work alongside the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) team to provide input into infection guidance that is distributed across the Trust, support for sepsis initiatives, and preparedness for clinical care for influenza, serious incidents (bioterrorism) and other highly transmissible infections. Other work includes writing hospital antimicrobial guidelines and investigating infection incidents within the Trust.

We have a weekly multi-disciplinary team meeting (Wednesday lunchtime) where we discuss complex problems.

We work closely with genito-urinary medicine specialists, Dr Sophie Brady and Dr Nicola Fearnley to provide an integrated outpatient HIV service, held at Trinity@St Luke’s. Our team includes HIV nurse specialists, a pharmacist and a clinical psychologist.

HIV clinics are held every day at St Luke’s Hospital. We hold HIV multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meetings every Thursday at which complex cases are discussed. Our MDT extends to other disciplines including Obstetrics, Midwifery and Paediatrics to discuss pregnant patients, and Hepatology to review cases of HIV and hepatitis co-infection.

The HIV team can be reached on 01274 365088.

The tuberculosis (TB) clinic is held on Monday afternoons and is run jointly with the respiratory clinicians. In general, we provide treatment for non-pulmonary TB (TB that is not in the lungs) and drug-resistant TB.

The TB nurses can be contacted on 01274 365101.

Patients with a range of conditions are seen in general clinics on Monday and Friday afternoons. They may have been referred by their GP, by other specialists or be people who have recently been discharged from hospital. If you are given an appointment at our clinic, do not worry about catching an infectious disease. We are very careful to ensure that there is no infection risk in our waiting rooms.

We run an outpatient parenteral antibiotics service (OHPAT) which enables patients to receive intravenous antibiotics whilst at home. Common diagnoses include bone and joint infections, abscesses and cellulitis. We accept referrals from other hospitals if the patient’s home address falls within our geographical catchment area.

Some of our consultants work in the Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU) and we are able to use the clinic rooms on ACU to see people who need an urgent review. GPs can make urgent referrals by speaking to a consultant directly by phone via switchboard or by contacting our office. We can often see patients within one working day if deemed necessary.

The department does not offer private healthcare and none of our consultants practice in the private sector.

We have an active Infection Research Team. We have several national and international research studies up and running. Our aim is to ensure that high quality research can be offered to all who wish to be involved and delivered by compassionate and knowledgeable staff, providing patients with a high quality, professional and ethical research experience.

If you are a patient, you may be approached by our research team and asked to participate in a study.

Our nurses and consultants are dedicated to training other healthcare professionals. We regularly host student nurses, medical students and physician associate students on ward 7. Our team was proud to be shortlisted for the Student Nursing Times Awards – Student Placement of the Year – in 2018.

Every Tuesday we deliver a half-day seminar for final-year medical students covering a range of core infection topics. We have always been pleased to receive positive feedback from our students. Dr Amy Robinson and Dr Riccardo Giuntini are both involved in supporting medical education activities in the hospital.

The research team can be contacted on 01274 276361/383721.

We care for patients with:

• TB, including drug resistant TB
• MRSA, C.difficile, ESBL, VRE and other resistant nosocomial infections
• Serious community-acquired infections (such as meningitis)
• HIV
• Imported infections, such as malaria
• Patients with infections requiring complex or extended treatment
• Fever of unknown origin
• Soft tissue infections
• Bone and joint infections (in partnership with orthopaedic surgery)
• Organ-specific infections, such an endocarditis or pulmonary aspergillosis (often in conjunction with the organ specialist).

Our ward is staffed by a team of junior doctors, usually a foundation doctor (newly qualified), two doctors who have been qualified for two–four years and a registrar (qualified for more than four years and training to become an infection specialist). Sister Caroline Carass leads a team of junior sisters, staff nurses and healthcare workers.

We are proud of the following awards and achievements:

• Ward 7 was shortlisted for the National Placement of the Year 2018 by the Student Nursing Times in London
• Staff nurse Peter was nominated for mentor of the year 2018. This was across three trusts: Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford District Care Trust and Airedale Foundation Trust
• Ward 7 won the Local Placement of the Year 2018 across three trusts
• Ward 7 was certified six months free from pressure sores in August 2018
• Ward sister Caroline Carass won the Governors’ Award for Care and Compassion 2016
• We received recognition for excellent teamwork from the Calderdale EPR team when EPR was being set up
• Our team recently featured in the Trust magazine after receiving positive feedback from nurse bank and agency staff
• In August 2018 we featured in the Bradford Telegraph and Argus newspaper regarding compassionate care

Waiting times vary according to clinical need but we hope to see outpatient referrals within four weeks. We can organise urgent reviews (within 24 hours) where indicated. 

Flu – How you can protect yourself and others

Pseudomonas aeruginosa – Information for patients, relatives, carers and visitors

Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBL) – Information for patients, relatives, carers and visitors

Urinary catheter care – Information for patients, relatives, carers and visitors

Our talented and compassionate staff help care for a diverse population, making Bradford a special place to work. Choosing the right people is key to our success. If you think you’ve got what it takes to join us, please email careers@bthft.nhs.uk to discover more about our latest opportunities.

Infectious Diseases Department
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
West Yorkshire

Patient enquiries
Patient enquiries are handled by our Senior Medical Secretary, Tracey McLoughlin, on:
Telephone: 01274 382248
Fax: 01274 382385

Clinical enquiries
Telephone: 01274 382248
Fax: 01274 382385

Our consultants are contactable via switchboard during working hours, Monday to Friday. We do not currently offer a 24-hour infectious diseases advice service. Microbiological advice should be sought from the duty microbiologist via switchboard.

TB nurses
Telephone: 01274 365101

Research team
Telephone: 01274 276361/383721

HIV Service
Trinity@St Luke’s
St Luke’s Hospital
Little Horton Lane
Bradford
BD5 0NA
Telephone: 01274 365088.

Twitter

TB Alert:  UK-based TB charity. Lots of information for both Healthcare Workers and the Public about TB diagnosis and treatment.

The Truth About TB: Offers access to a wide selection of leaflets providing information about TB. Some leaflets are available in several languages.

Locala: Information on sexual health and contraception services in Bradford.

Yorkshire MESMAC: Website for Bradford-based HIV charity the OUR Project. Provides information, support and advocacy for people living with HIV in Bradford and their friends and families.

It Starts With Me: Information about how to obtain a HIV test, including how to order a home postal test.

Aidsmap: Up-to-date information about HIV research.

Antibiotic Guardian: Public Health England website with information for healthcare workers and the public about antibiotics, in particular how we can act now to prevent resistance to antibiotics developing in the future.

Travel Health Pro: Travel health guidance for healthcare professionals and the public.

Travel Vaccinations: NHS Choices site providing information about travel vaccines.

Foreign travel advice: Home Office advice on foreign travel and safety.

ProMED-mail: Outbreak surveillance site.

Meningitis Research Foundation: National charity which provides high quality information about the recognition of acute bacterial meningitis.

National Institute for Health Research: Information about clinical research and what it means to participate in a trial.