Children's hepatitis family clinic

About

The multidisciplinary family hepatitis clinic sees children and parents chronically infected with viral hepatitis (particularly hepatitis B or C) and delta co-infection, as well as caring for infants born to mothers with viral hepatitis to exclude perinatal infection.

The clinic also sees all mothers antenatally if they are infected with hepatitis B or C to help optimise the chances of having an uninfected baby.

Parents and children are seen together so we can provide one-stop care for the whole family. We have a family-centred approach to treatment, with support tailored to individual children to fit around school and extracurricular activities. We offer flexible appointment times and direct contact with our consultant and clinical nurse specialists (CNS) throughout treatment.

We work closely with families and the hospital play specialists to help younger children develop ways of coping with their treatment.

We work closely with young people and families to promote treatment adherence and manage side effects and are committed to involving young people in every step of their care. For our adolescent patients, we provide education about hepatitis infection and sexual health.

Young people transitioning to adult services will have the opportunity to build a relationship with the adult team via the family clinic prior to transfer of care making sure their transfer is as seamless as possible.

Education and elective placements

Elective students may join the clinic as part of their attachment in paediatric infectious diseases. Please contact Dr Tudor-Williams through the clinic. 

Clinics

Our children's hepatitis family clinic is held at St Mary's Hospital.

Family hepatitis clinic 

Hours

First Wednesday of every month from 14.00 onwards

Contact information

Phone: 020 3312 6163/6218 (clinic coordinator)
Fax: 020 3312 6251
Email: imperial.paediatricsOPD@nhs.net

Children's hepatitis testing and treatment clinic

Hours

Every Friday from 13.00 onwards

Contact information

Phone: 020 3312 6349 (clinic coordinator)
Phone: 020 3312 6095 (clinical nurse specialist)
Email: family.clinic@nhs.net

Nurse-led clinic slots can be made by arrangement with the family clinic CNS team 

Hours

09.00 to 17.00, Monday through Friday

Contact information

Phone: 020 3312 6095/6349

Address

All of our clinics are held in:
Paediatric outpatients department
Sixth floor
Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother (QEQM) building
St Mary's Hospital
Praed Street
London W2 1NY

Contacting our clinics in an emergency

If it is between 09.00 and 17.00, Monday through Friday please call our clinical nurse specialist on 020 3312 6095 or our consultant's secretary on 020 3312 1013.

For children on treatment requiring advice out-of-hours, call grand union ward on 020 3312 6465 and ask for the paediatric registrar on call.

For urgent medical advice including needle stick injuries, perinatal transmission issues and acute hepatitis, please call Dr Tudor-Williams directly on his mobile 077 9048 6691 or call the consultant on-call for paediatric infectious diseases via St Mary's Hospital switchboard 020 3312 6666.

Meet the team

Our children's hepatitis family clinic is managed by a team of consultants and clinical nurse specialists.

Consultants

Dr Gareth Tudor-Williams, paediatric infectious diseases consultant
Dr Ashley Brown, consultant hepatologist

Coordinators

Aleksandra Truszkowska, paediatric outpatient coordinator
Toyin Popoola, family clinic coordinator

Clinical nurse specialists

Sophie Raghunanan
Alice Walley
Paula Seerey

Patient information

Find out what to expect when you come to hospital for your appointment at our children's hepatitis family clinic. 

 

Before your appointment

Parents/legal guardians should attend all appointments with their child if they are under the age of 16. You are welcome to bring other relatives and young people are welcome to bring close friends for support.

There are no specific preparations before a routine outpatient appointment. However, if your attending for a FibroScan please fast for four hours before attending the clinic – this will be clearly stated in your appointment letter.

If you are attending the day surgery unit for a liver biopsy, the ward will specify fasting requirements depending on the type of anaesthetic and time of the procedure, please check your appointment letter.

If families have medical letters/blood results/vaccination histories from other hospitals it is helpful to bring these along. Mothers bringing their babies for testing are asked to bring their ‘red books’.

During your appointment

Waiting and appointment times will vary dependent on how busy the clinic is and the kind of appointment you are visiting us for. Your first appointment will be close to an hour and a half long.

For your first two to three visits after starting treatment you may be asked to wait for blood results before treatment is administered. Blood tests are carried out by the specialist children's phlebotomists in the paediatric outpatient department. Children can have local anaesthetic cream or "cold spray" in preparation for their blood tests.

Please note that we are a teaching hospital, so medical students may be present for some appointments. If you do not wish to have them in the room please let the nurse or doctor know and the students will be asked to step outside.

After your appointment

Patients will receive a letter within three to four weeks of their appointment. If another medical appointment is booked soon after tests/investigations have been carried out, the results may be discussed at this appointment, in other cases, the clinical nurse specialist will telephone families with the results.

When treatment is initiated, weekly visits are required for a month. Thereafter, visits are monthly provided the family are able to give the injections at home.

Refer to this service

GP and secondary care

Please use NHS e-Referrals to refer a patient to our children's hepatitis family clinic service, which can be accessed via children's infectious diseases clinic on NHS e-Referrals. 

GP advice

If you have questions about a patient or a referral, please call:

• 020 3312 1013 – Joan Farrell, secretary to Dr Tudor-Williams
• 020 3312 6095 – Sophie Raghunanan, CNS HIV/Hepatitis
• 077 9048 6691 – Dr Tudor-Williams' mobile for urgent advice