The Infection and Immunology department at Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust combines the partnership of Scientific and Medical staff to provide a full Consultant-led service for the diagnosis, treatment and clinical management of Infectious diseases and Healthcare Associated Infections.
The department is recognised and approved by the Health Professions Council and the Royal College of Pathologists for training Biomedical Scientists, Clinical Scientists and Medical staff, respectively.
The fully equipped department currently performs over 700,000 specialist and routine investigations annually to numerous Trusts and PCT commissioners within the South East and Pan London sector. The department, one of the largest in the country, offers a wide-ranging portfolio of diagnostic bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology assays. This includes a comprehensive molecular based repertoire offering qualitative and quantitative PCR, real time PCR and genotyping.
In conjunction with our stakeholders our services continue to expand and develop, with recent innovations supporting and improving patient management in Infection Control, Paediatric, Oncology and GUM settings, amongst others. Collectively we are customer focussed and responsive to all our stakeholders requirements. Our experience demonstrates that this is key to facilitating the management of commissioned services and to optimise patient care.
The diagnostic Microbiology laboratory offers a comprehensive diagnostic and interpretative service for the management of bacterial, parasitic and mycological infections.
This modern laboratory utilises cutting edge technology for timely bacterial identification and susceptibility testing. Recent service developments have demonstrably improved the diagnosis and treatment of Healthcare Associated Infections i.e. MRSA and C.difficile. This innovation, in partnership with the Infection Control team, has seen a significant reduction in hospital acquired infection rates, far exceeding Trust expectations.
The laboratory incorporates a Containment Level 3 suite which not only facilitates specialised Mycobacterial culture and identification but enables rapid processing of other high risk infection samples.
The Microbiology laboratory is continually investigating and implementing new innovations to augment and improve our current diagnostic services.
The diagnostic Immunology laboratory provides a broad repertoire of serological testing, including autoantibodies, allergy testing, and selected immunochemical tests. The laboratory aims to provide a high quality Immunology service with timely delivery of accurate results.
Investigations available include a wide range of common and rare autoantibodies, with particular expertise in testing for connective tissue disease. Testing for IgE antibodies is available for a variety of common foods and aeroallergens.
The laboratory is pioneering the use of multiplex technology in testing for autoimmune disease, a technique which allows rapid testing for multiple autoantibodies on a single sample.
Senior staff are able to advise on the selection of appropriate immunological tests, and to discuss the interpretation of test results. Clinical advice is available regarding investigation and management of immunological disorders.
The serology laboratory provides an extensive screening, acute diagnostic and interpretative service for the management of infectious diseases in wide clinical settings i.e. GUM, antenatal, paediatrics, occupational health, to name a few. The automated laboratory, in particular, contains state of the art random access analysers facilitating a high throughput of samples in a minimum of time.
The molecular laboratory offers widespread automated, in-house and state of the art commercial assays for the molecular detection of infectious diseases.
Modern innovations, in response to clinical need and treatment regimes, have lead to the development of qualitative and quantitative PCR, real time PCR and genotyping technology for the rapid detection of Healthcare Associated Infections, blood borne viruses, TB, respiratory tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases and neurological illnesses, amongst others.
Commercially available cutting edge DNA technology is enhanced by internal R&D to meet the demands of infectious epidemiology, diagnosis and therapeutic drug monitoring. Future initiatives include development of liquid array and microarray technology, such as Luminex Bead Technology, which can simultaneously screen large numbers of pathogens in one test. We are now implementing, after a successful trial, a single liquid array test for 19 respiratory viruses/subtypes. We intend to further exploit this rapidly developing field of molecular diagnostics to offer similar multiplex assays for syndromic infectious diseases and drug resistance.
In partnership with our stakeholders, we will continue to develop new and innovative systems to deliver a timely, quality patient focused service.
Team Profiles
Shelley Wilson
Delivery Unit Manager
