Immunology - The Clinical Immunology Service

In this leaflet we aim to give you some useful details about the Immunology service at Salford Royal Hospital.

Our staff

Consultants
Dr Archana Herwadkar, Consultant Immunologist

Nursing staff
Lucy Common (Acting Nurse Consultant)
Ivonette Jones (Senior Immunology and Allergy Nurse Specialist)
Vicky Blakeley (Immunology and Allergy Nurse Specialist)
Melanie Fernandez (Immunology and Allergy Nurse Specialist)
With assistance from the nursing and support staff on our Day case Unit and Outpatients Department.

Secretary
Jane Blaylock

Service Aim

Our aim is to provide quality assured service of the highest standards for our service users and in line with the Trust’s values of 'care, appreciate and inspire'.

Contact details 

Queries about your condition or treatment (Mon – Fri 8am to 4pm excluding bank holidays and public holidays) – Immunology/Allergy Nurses on 0161 206 5576 or email salfordimmunology.nurses@nca.nhs.uk

Administrative and appointment queries (Mon to Fri, 9am to 3pm excluding bank holidays and public holidays) – Immunology/Allergy Secretary – Jayne Blaylock – 0161 206 0522.

Queries and cancellations of appointments at Salford Royal (Mon – Fri 9am to 5pm excluding bank holidays and public holidays) – Appointments Call Centre, Salford Royal – 0161 206 4100.

Patient Advice Liaison Service (PALS) – 0161 206 2003 (Monday to Friday 8.30 am – 4.30pm excluding bank and public holidays).

If you require advice regarding your condition outside the working hours, seek assistance from your GP or local Emergency Department. Call 999 for emergencies or 111 for NHS telephone advice.

Our service is mainly delivered in Outpatients (Area 2 or 3) and the Brooke Treatment Unit at Salford Royal Hospital. If you are admitted as an inpatient under another team or another hospital we can provide advice if required regarding your condition.

Please visit our website for details regarding our service at: www.northerncarealliance.nhs.uk

Day Unit

Immunoglobulin infusions are given on the day unit by the Immunology Nurse Specialists, or the Renal unit nurses trained in administering Immunoglobulin. We also carry out training to service users self-administering Immunoglobulin or medications for Hereditary Angioedema (HAE).

We carry out our allergy activity on the above day unit including Immunotherapy for both pollen and wasp/bee venom. In addition, testing to food and drugs including skin prick and intradermal testing and allergy challenges.

Research

The department maintains secure local databases of all service users undergoing treatments and investigations including Immunoglobulin replacement therapy, Hereditary Angioedema treatments and allergy patients. This allows for regular audit of our practice against local and national standards. We also record information on a national database for service users receiving Immunoglobulin replacement therapy.

In the last few years we enrolled a number of service users in the national 100k genome project to identify problems with genes causing immune defects.

We offer service users the opportunity to take part in:

• Service users events both locally and regionally
• The national database for immunodeficiency (UKPID registry)

Education and training

The department is actively involved in the delivery of educational sessions for various medical and nursing professionals and students. Our team members are also involved in speaking and presenting posters at national and international conferences.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

PALS are a confidential service that provides help, advice and information for service users, families, and carers. They help our service users and families to find answers to questions or concerns regarding their care or treatment, to resolve concerns quickly by liaising with staff and managers and refer our service users and carers onto external agencies or specialist advocacy services, where this is appropriate.

PALS cannot provide advocacy, counselling, diagnosis, or medical advice. However, they can speak on your behalf to the people that can provide these services. PALS will contact clinical staff and departments to obtain information or investigate your concerns and then relay this information back to you verbally.

You can contact PALS on 0161 778 5665 between 9.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday or via email on pals@nca.nhs.uk.

For further information you can scan the QR code below. There are PALS leaflets available on the ward, please ask one of our nurses if you require a paper copy.

Zero Tolerance Policy

We are committed to the well-being and safety of our service users and of our staff. Please treat other service users and staff with the courtesy and respect that you expect to receive. Verbal abuse, harassment and physical violence are unacceptable and will lead to prosecutions.

Your views on the Immunology Service

Feedback is of high importance to us, and we value the opportunity to hear your thoughts. To help us improve our service we encourage patients and carers to complete a ‘Friends & Family Test’ survey. You can provide feedback via:

• Scanning the QR code below
• Completing a paper survey
• Answering a text message that you will receive after attending your appointment

The comments our patients give get reviewed on a monthly basis and are a valuable way of getting feedback on how we are doing and what we could improve on.

We also distribute specific immunology satisfaction surveys to a random selection of our patients on an annual basis.

Patient Organisations

Immunodeficiency:
Immunodeficiency UK - www.immunodeficiencyuk.org
UK Primary Immune-deficiency Support - www.ukpips.org.uk
Hereditary Angioedema - www.haeuk.org
Chronic Granulomatous Disorder Society - www.cgdsociety.org
International Society for patients with Immunodeficiency - www.ipopi.org

Allergy:
Allergy UK - www.allergy.uk
Anaphylaxis Campaign - www.anaphylaxis.org
Asthma UK - www.asthma.org.uk

Other organisations:

European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology - www.eaaci.org
British Society for Immunology - www.immunology.org
UK Primary Immunodeficiency Network - www.ukpin.org.uk
British association of Dermatology - www.bad.org.uk
British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology - www.bsaci.org