Members of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust’s Tuberculosis service marked World TB Day on 21 March by inviting experts from across Leicestershire to discuss how they can work together to improve case finding, diagnosis and patient centred treatment.
Professor Gerrit Woltmann, Head of Service Respiratory Medicine and Allergy at UHL, Dr Pranab Haldar, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Leicester and a Principal Investigator at the NIHR Leicester BRC, and Roz Kennedy, Clinical Nurse Manager for the TB Service welcomed representatives from Leicester City Council’s Public Health team as well as Turning Point, the Falcon Support Service and Ollalo House.
Together they discussed local TB incidence and how their services support patients receiving treatment in the community, to establish ways of working together that put the patient at the centre of these services and tackle the spread of this serious infectious disease.
Jess, who has been treated for TB locally, talked at the event. She said: “Events like this that raise awareness are really important. I’d like people to see TB like any other illness, no matter what community they’re from. Then receiving a diagnosis and accessing treatment will be much easier.”
Rob Howard, Director of Public Health at Leicester City Council, said: “This event has been invaluable opportunity as we work together to eliminate TB in Leicester.”
The NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre carries out research into respiratory illnesses and infectious diseases including TB. For more information please click here https://leicesterbrc.nihr.ac.uk/…/respiratory-and…/