During our recent Immunology patient webinar, we asked people how confident they felt about leaving the house since the start of the Covid pandemic. Our straw poll showed that over half still had concerns, and 1 in 3 felt very uncomfortable.
The impact of Covid on the lives of people with weak immune systems is not fully recognised. Hopefully Prof Richter’s talk helped everyone to understand the risks. Our patients can also ask for support from our psychology service.
We are hosting a Webinar for you to discuss your questions about the Immunodeficiency service (and of course about Covid) on the 8th June from 5-6.30 pm. This will be via Zoom.
We have a panel of patients and other experts to answer your questions. Topics we expect to cover include:
Covid vaccines, treatments and research
Clinical Psychology services for our patients
Changes to immunoglobulin products and services
New treatments for immunodeficiency
Please book your place and ask any questions you would like to be covered here:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctcequrz8rHNUV9v2MyUH_Nql4JIEd7WD4
We’re looking forward to seeing you on the 8th June!
We are delighted to welcome Nicola Wilson, our new Clinical Psychologist, to the Immunology team. Nicola will be available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Heartlands site, offering psychological support and talking therapies to help our patients in managing worries, stresses, and emotional challenges related to living with a condition affecting their immune system. You can read more about the service here.
If you’d like to speak to Nicola, just ask one of the Immunology team.
The Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology centre at UHB is officially world class after achieving prestigious international recognition.
The West Midlands Allergy and Immunology service at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Foundation Trust – in partnership with the Regional Severe Asthma Service, the Occupational Asthma Service and the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy and School of Pharmacy at the University of Birmingham – has been designated as a World Allergy Organisation (WAO) Centre of Excellence.
Read more about the award here. The WAO website has information about the award and a list of accredited centres around the world.
Dr Kavitha Sooriyakumar was awarded the Barry Kay prize at the recent meeting of the British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. She presented data about 206 patients with possible food allergy who had a supervised food challenge test. With appropriate testing and selection, the risk of allergic reactions was very low. Dr Sooriyakumar suggested that some food re-introductions could be safely done at home.
The judges commented that “The issue presented is very important and high-quality research on it has the potential to change our practice.”
Following a thorough assessment and an inspection visit, the West Midlands Immunodeficiency Service was recently awarded full accreditation for the service it provides for children and adults with immunodeficiency and HAE.
A team from the Quality in Primary Immunodeficiency Services (QPIDS) scheme, part of the Royal College of Physicians accreditation unit, visited the service at Heartlands Hospital in October. They were full of praise for the service we provide for our patients with immune disorders. This provides us and our patients with reassurance of the quality of the service, and also helps ensure our continued commissioning as a specialised service.
The service was first accredited in 2012. This year the assessment was against new and rigorous independent standards, and we are only the third centre in the UK to be accredited to these. You can find out more about the QPIDS scheme here.
Many of our patients know the calm and kind voice of Margaret, our secretary. She has been taking calls from our patients for many years, helping them to get the best from our Immunology service. And of course she is an indispensable support for the doctors and nurses on the team.
At the end of our regular team meeting in July, she was amazed to see some old friends and colleagues turn up to celebrate her 40th anniversary at Heartlands hospital.
Professor Ron Thompson, who founded the department 48 years ago, was first to congratulate Margaret on her achievement.
She also received cards and emails from many of the patients who have come to know her over the years. Many thanks for everything you’ve done, Margaret.
Some of our HAE patients and their families joined us on Saturday 17th September for a day of presentations, discussions and a chat over coffee and lunch.
The Heartlands team were joined by Laura Szutowicz from HAE UK, Dr Andrew Volans (A&E consultant from Scarborough) and Laura Dight (Dietician) for a wide-ranging programme.
We will post highlights of the day and more photos on the patient pages soon.
Members of the Immunology team helped to spread the word about Primary Immunodeficiency (PI) to mark World PI Week in April. The stand in our hospital health information area was well visited. The most popular leaflet was one helping people understand how their amazing immune system works.
About 30 staff attended a lunchtime drop-in hay fever clinic, delivered by the Allergy team during Allergy Awareness week. Allergy nurses and doctors provided a free assessment of symptoms and advice on how to get the most out of over-the-counter medications, together with other tips to help staff stay well during high pollen counts. Feedback was very positive, with most staff saying they will make big changes to how they manage their hay fever this year. Some staff thought that a short talk or presentation would be helpful so we’ll bear this in mind for next year.
