Our support services
The core cystic fibrosis team consists of the cystic fibrosis consultants, the cystic fibrosis nurse specialists, specialist dietitian, specialist physiotherapist and highly specialised clinical psychologist. For full details, visit the meet the team section of this website. A number of other staff contribute to the care of our cystic fibrosis patients including a social worker, doctors in training in respiratory medicine and cystic fibrosis in particular, ward nursing staff, outpatient nursing staff, respiratory radiologists, a microbiologist and respiratory pharmacist.
Our extended cystic fibrosis team includes specialists in cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, cystic fibrosis-related liver disease and cystic fibrosis arthritis, and a vascular surgeon.
We have three cystic fibrosis nurse specialists; two are based at The London Chest Hospital, and one is based at Southend Hospital, and able to do home visits for our patients who live in south Essex. Our link physiotherapist at Southend offers a limited home physiotherapy service.
We also offer a home IV service (this is when the patient has antibiotics intravenously at home). This is provided under contract by a homecare service who will deliver any antibiotics for a home IV course, either to your home or university if you are studying away from home.
The cystic fibrosis team and our community nurses can show patients how to administer antibiotics intravenously at home.
Once a decision is made that treatment can continue at home, pre-prepared antibiotics are delivered to the patients’ home address and visits by a nurse to collect drug levels are organised. We intend to expand this service to include collecting sputum (spit) samples and measuring spirometry (a spirometry test involves blowing with some effort into a machine which takes measurements).
