Treating centres

  • Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (Reading)
  • Buckingham NHS Trust (Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury, High Wycombe)
  • Milton Keynes General Hospital
  • Great Western Hospital (Swindon)

Thames Valley Operational Delivery Network Hepatitis C Elimination Programme

In line with NHS England initiatives to eliminate Hepatitis C by 2025, the Thames Valley Operational Delivery Network (ODN) works across the region, which includes Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Milton Keynes, Swindon and Berkshire.

The Community Liaison Nursing Team works closely with the regional drugs and alcohol teams to test and treat patients with Hepatitis C.

The Community Liaison Nursing Team works with multiple organisations, including the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), ensuring that every opportunity is given to people to be tested and treated quickly for Hepatitis C.

With treatment, the cure rate for Hepatitis C is 95 percent (WHO).

Without proper treatment, chronic Hepatitis C infections can lead to severe complications, such as liver disease, liver scarring and liver cancer.

Mobile outreach

Within Thames Valley ODN, we have funding for a mobile outreach service to focus on areas where there is high prevalence of Hepatitis C, reach at-risk groups and deliver services directly in the community.

This will increase testing of those undiagnosed, especially people unaware of risk factors or deterred by stigma, and support engagement of people who have been diagnosed but have not yet accessed care.

Prisons / other settings

Current testing initiatives run in other settings, for example centres offering facilities to people who are homeless, or who have issues with drugs and/or alcohol, however there are still patients who we know have not been tested or treated, and who cannot be contacted in these settings.

We attend prisons across the region with our Community Liaison Nursing Team and run High intensity Test and Treat (HiTT) events.

The Community Liaison Nursing Team and the Hep C Trust Peers who work closely with the Thames Valley ODN also visit these settings, approved premises and probation centres on a regular basis.

Needle exchange pharmacies

Many patients do not access community services, and miss out on testing and treatment.

Pharmacies across the Thames Valley ODN have signed up to the current testing scheme. Testing in needle exchange services is of particular importance where public engagement within services is low and needle exchange figures are high. The Community Liaison Nursing Team arranges testing weeks in pharmacies across the region.

Opt-out initiatives

NHS England has expanded its testing and treatment services to complete the mission to eliminate chronic Hepatitis C, including initiatives in emergency departments (ED) and antenatal services, aiming to reach all those still living with the condition.

The ED testing initiative aims to provide testing for HIV, HBV and HCV for anyone aged 18 years or over and having a routine blood test during their ED attendance, unless they opt out. Hundreds of people in England have been newly diagnosed through this programme and two sites in Thames Valley have been selected to participate.

The antenatal testing initiative is a collaboration between NHS England and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to support opt-out testing in antenatal settings. Currently some HCV testing does take place in antenatal settings, however unlike HBV and HIV, HCV testing is often based on individual patient risk and is not opt-out.

New entrants testing

Thames Valley ODN has launched a testing scheme targeting people from countries with an intermediate to high prevalence (equal to or above two percent) of Hepatitis C.

Screening is also advised for those who have undergone medical, cosmetic or dental treatments in high-prevalence countries with poor infection control or unscreened blood transfusions.

The Oxfordshire Tuberculosis (TB) Service is testing new entrants to the UK meeting specific criteria.