NW Training Programme Director Infectious Diseases
Dr Karen Devine
Email: karen.devine2@mft.nhs.uk
NW Training Programme Director Microbiology
Dr Suganya Reddy
Email: suganya.reddy@lthtr.nhs.uk
Manchester Training
The Infectious Disease training is based at the Regional ID Unit at North Manchester General Hospital. It cares for the largest cohort of HIV patients (approx 2,000) outside London/SE England, and has extensive exposure to community acquired, imported and nosocomial infections. It is presently one of the largest hepatitis C treatment centres in England and is responsible for running the Regional Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Network. The Manchester Training Programme offers dual training in ID/GIM, ID/Medical microbiology and ID/virology. It would be rare for a trainee’s specific requirements not to be covered by the present training schemes, however, if there were unusual aims and objectives these could usually be arranged with colleagues elsewhere in the region/country/internationally.
Inpatients
Inpatient training is centred on two Infectious Disease wards with a total of 27 adult beds (all but 4 are single isolation rooms) including a 2 bedded ID HDU with facilities for CPAP and cardiac monitoring. There are 4 negative-pressure isolation rooms suitable for managing patients with MDRTB and initial assessment of patients suspected of having possible viral haemorrhagic fever. We also run a ‘ward attenders clinic’ Monday to Friday on ward J3 for patients under the care of the Infectious Disease consultants. Admissions include patients with community acquired infections, tropical infections, HIV and TB and referrals are taken locally and regionally. There are approximately 1,200 Infectious Disease admissions annually. The registrar on call rota is non-resident and is 1:8.
There is also an OPAT service in place. We also provide regular in-reach services with microbiology colleagues to ITU.
Outpatients
In addition to several general Infectious Disease clinics, there are specialist outpatient clinics for HIV, HIV associated neurocognitive disease, family HIV clinic, transition HIV clinic, paediatric HIV, HIV in pregnancy, hepatitis, TB and a pre-travel advice clinic. The Unit is one of only 3 outside London that offer a supraregional HTLV service. There is also a joint ID/neurology clinic. Trainees are given the opportunity to spend time in all of these clinics as part of their training. There are more than 11,000 Infectious Disease outpatient attendances annually.
There are multidisciplinary and cross-community networks for HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, neurological infections, and these provide excellent opportunities for clinical research links as well as optimal care.
Academic
The unit is active in clinical research, supported by several research nurses. We actively encourage and promote research and the undertaking of higher degrees. Recent former trainees have undertaken higher degrees in Peru, Uganda and South Africa as well as the UK. We have close links to PHE Porton, the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool, the Liverpool and London Schools of Tropical Medicine, other UK Infection Units, Wellcome Research Unit in Vietnam etc. The Unit has recently been commended by Dame Sally Davies for recruitment to commercial research studies. Also, at the Greater Manchester Research Awards, the Unit was awarded the Research Team of the Year award in 2013 and Investigator of the Year in 2015. The Unit also received the Trust Patient Safety award in 2015 for work on preparing for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
General Internal Medicine
For those who enter dual training in ID with GIM, one of the first two years is spent in Blackpool doing GIM, and lower intensity GIM is undertaken within Pennine Acute NHS Trust during the last two years of training, rotating through various medical subspecialties, depending on individual interests and training requirements.
Core Infection Training
During CIT, Trainees will spend 1 year training in microbiology/virology within the deanery region. This will include developing laboratory skills and also undertaking clinical consult work. They will also undertake 1 year of training in Infectious Diseases at the Regional ID Unit at North Manchester General Hospital.
Regional Teaching Programme and Rotation Opportunities
Based on the 2014 curriculum for combined infection training, Manchester offers a joint teaching programme targeted at both infectious diseases and medical microbiology trainees, with sessions on 2 half days per month. This two year rolling programme addresses the core areas of the curriculum through facilitator-led sessions that actively engage participants through approaches to adult learning. In addition to clinical and laboratory topics, management, leadership and research are incorporated in designated sessions. Two sessions a year are run jointly with Mersey.