SERVICES WE OFFER
ABOUT THE OUTPATIENT CLINICS
ABOUT BEING ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL
 What is the CF service?
The CF service provides both in and outpatient care for people over the age of 16 who have CF.
The service provides four types of care:
- Regular outpatient appointments at our clinics
- A Yearly annual review for all our patients
- Inpatient admissions if needed
- Home visits if needed
Where is the service based?
Our base is at the CF Centre, which is in outpatients 4 department, Vickers Courtyard near Sorby wing at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. We also have beds on Wards Brearley 1 and 2 where we care for our patients when they are admitted to hospital.
It is best to enter the hospital at the Herries road entrance. Parking is available in the visitor's car park on the left or right hand side of the road.
Who provides the CF service?
A team of people, all of whom are listed below along with their contact telephone numbers, provides the CF service.
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Doctors
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Frank Edenborough- Consultant Physician
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0114 2714770
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Martin Wildman- Consultant Physician
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0114 2715283
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Bryan Fernandes- CF Fellow / Specialist Registrar
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0114 2266281
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Nurses
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Julie Boadle
Yvonne Locke
Shirley Murray
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0114 2266281
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Dietitians
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Sarah Thornton
Ailsa Milne
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0114 2714162
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Physiotherapists
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Ursula Green
Cheryl Harman
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0114 2266929
0114 2715060
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Social Worker
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Dorothy Langman
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0114 2715215
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Pharmacists
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Amanda Plummer
Tim Gleeson
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0114 2715359
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Secretary to Dr. Edenborough
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Wendy Skelton
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0114 2714770
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Secretary to Dr. Wildman
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Joanne Andrews
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0114 2715283
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Northern General Hospital Switch board
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0114 2434343
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Brearley One
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Inpatient ward
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0114 2715089
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Brearley Two
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Inpatient ward
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0114 2715085
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What do the team members do?
Each member of the team does something different and so that you understand these differences their different roles are outlined below.
Doctors
There are three doctors in the team and together they will provide regular assessments of your condition and arrange any tests or alterations to your medication that you and they feel are necessary. They are there to listen to you and offer advice on any CF related issues.
Nurses
The service has 3 specialist nurses. Their main role is to coordinate your care and treatment and to support you and your carers. They will also organise IV antibiotic care, and care of your "port-a-cath", if you have one.
In addition, the nurses can provide information on many subjects including:
- Fertility
- Organ transplantation
- Planning holidays
Remember that the nurses are your first line of contact if you have any queries or are unwell.
The team also has access to specialist diabetic nurse should you need their advice.
Dietitian
The Dietitian's role is to provide practical support and advice on all the nutritional issues associated with your CF. This includes:
- Helping you to make sure that you are meeting your nutritional requirements
- Advice on pancreatic enzyme therapy
- Vitamin supplements
- CF related diabetes
To help them give you the best advice possible, the dietitian may ask you to fill out a 3-day food diary so that they know what you are eating. For patients who have tube feeding, the dietitians can give advice on the type of tube feeding you have, what kind of feed you need and your feeding routine.
Physiotherapist
There are 2 Physiotherapists in the CF team and they coordinate your physiotherapy care and treatment in clinic, at annual review, on the ward and sometimes in your home.
They will be available at clinic to advice you about:
- Airway clearance techniques
- Exercise
- physiotherapy equipment
- Nebuliser therapy
- Postural problems
- Provide advice on oxygen therapy if oxygen is part of your treatment
Social Worker
There is a social worker in the CF team who can help you with a wide range of advice and help. In particular, they can help you apply for different benefits or grants. These might include:
- Income support
- Housing benefit
- Disability living allowance
- Carer's allowance
- Incapacity benefit
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- Statutory sick pay
- Health costs
- Welfare grants
- Education / College grants
- Employment issues
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The CF social worker also provides a specialist service where they advice, prepare and present your case if you have an application for a welfare benefit turned down.
You can contact the social worker directly by telephoning the number given above on Mondays and Wednesdays or by just dropping by the Unit for an informal chat on these days.
Pharmacist
There are 2 pharmacists in the Cystic Fibrosis team.
They will help you make sure your medication is suitable, convenient and safe for you to take. The pharmacist and Cystic Fibrosis nurses will coordinate intravenous antibiotics that you may use at home. The Pharmacist are available to chat about any problems you have with your medication and for advice on their side effects.
Secretary
Dr. Edenborough's and Dr. Wildman's secretary arrange appointments for patients, type clinic letters and sort out administration problems. If you have any queries and don't know who to ask, need to change your appointments or have other concerns please telephone them and they will try and sort them out or pass on information to whoever needs to know.
IF YOU NEED ANY ADVICE BETWEEN CLINIC VISITS, PLEASE CALL THE RELEVANT MEMBER OF THE TEAM ON THEIR NUMBER AS PROVIDED ABOVE.
How and when can I get to see the Cystic Fibrosis team?
The service operates on a self-referral system and runs from Monday to Friday. You can call for advice or to arrange an appointment from 8 am to 5pm. There is an answer machine on the nurse's telephone number. Try and contact us before 10am if you need to be seen the same day.
Outside these hours staff on Brearley 1 may be able to give you advice. However, if you need to be seen urgently go to A&E.
ABOUT THE OUTPATIENT CLINICS
The CF team will arrange to see you in the service's outpatient clinic at least once every 3 months.
What happens when I go to the outpatient clinic?
When you come to clinic we will carry out a number of checks including checking your:
- Lung function
- Sputum for which you'll need to give a sample or cough swab
- Weight
During your appointment, you will see each member of the team individually. Sometimes you will have a blood test or other tests if the doctors think it is necessary.
To reduce the risk of cross infection the team ask you to stay in the same room throughout your clinic visit.
When are outpatient clinics?
We have several clinics a week. Please make sure you keep to your appointment times, as the clinic can get very busy. You can also help us to maintain our infection control policy by arriving on time.
How do I cancel and rearrange my appointments?
If you are unable to come to any pre-arranged appointments or if you want to re-arrange an appointment, please contact the unit as soon as possible and speak to either one of the nurses or the secretaries.
Other Specialised Services:
Patients who need treatment or advice for certain other aspects of their care are referred to appropriate specialists.
Issues regarding male and female fertility, contraception and pregnancy are dealt by specialists at The Jessop Wing.
Patients with bone and joint problems are referred to Rheumatologists and Osteoporosis Specialists (Metabolic Bone Division) at Northern General hospital.
Patients with advanced liver disease are referred to Specialist Centres in Leeds or Birmingham.
Patients who need referral for lung (or heart and lung) transplantation are referred to a centre of their choice. Currently, we refer our patients either to Freeman Hospital in Newcastle or Papworth Hospital, Papworth. Our CF Nurse Specialist, Yvonne Locke has extensive experience in this specialty and is able to offer advice and support to those patients who are being considered for transplantation.
Port-a-cath's are inserted by the Vascular Surgeons and PEG tube by PEG Nurses based at Northern General Hospital.
Transition Clinic
We have a monthly transition clinic at the Sheffield Children's Hospital CF unit which Dr. Edenborough, along with some other team members, attend to see people who will be transferred to our care in the near future. This clinic gives us an opportunity to discuss the care of the patient with the paediatric team before they are transferred to our care.
Psychiatry Clinic
Consultant Liaison Psychiatrists see patients in our unit who need help with managing depression, anxiety and other psychiatric issues.
Diabetes Clinic
We conduct 3 monthly diabetes clinic in our unit, which a Consultant Diabetologist attends, to monitor the progress of our diabetic patients.
Annual Reviews
This service provides you with a review of every aspect of your health that relates to your CF. It is a bit like an MOT. The review happens every year and we will send you a separate appointment for this.
Annual reviews are carried out at the CF unit. During your review you will see all the members of the team. The review will include additional investigations such as:
- Chest X-rays
- Bone scans
- Ultrasound scans of the abdomen
- Blood tests
- Exercise tests
Home visits
Visits by the CF team to your home can be arranged but only under special circumstances. This can be discussed further with any of the CF team.
Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Meeting:
We conduct weekly (Wednesday afternoon) MDT meetings to discuss all patients seen in the previous week. During these meetings our whole team comprising doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, dietitians, pharmacists and social worker are present to discuss about patients seen in the previous week, in-patients and any other difficult cases/issues.
ABOUT BEING ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL
Sometimes, you will need to come into hospital because you need more care than we can give either in your home or in the outpatient clinic.
Where will I be?
If you need to be admitted to hospital you will normally be admitted to ward Brearley 1 or 2 at the Northern general Hospital. These are general respiratory wards with dedicated single cubicles for people with cystic fibrosis. Doctors and other members of the team will see you regularly throughout your stay.
What I need to bring with me?
When you come into hospital we expect you to bring in all your medication, your own nebuliser and physiotherapy equipment. We ask you to brink your own equipment with you as this reduces the risk of cross infection. Please remember that you are responsible for cleaning this equipment whilst you are in hospital.
When will I see the doctors?
The team will have a ward round on Wednesday at about 11:30 am. During the ward round the team will review your condition, care and treatment and listen to any problems you are having.
May I have visitors?
Visiting on the ward is 2-3:30 pm and 6-8pm or at the discretion of the nurse in charge. However, please note that ward staff or members of the CF team may sometimes ask your visitors to leave so that they can give you your treatment or care. For more information about the Trust visitor's policy ask for a copy of the leaflet "Information for visitors".
May my visitors stay overnight?
Family or friends including children may only stay overnight under special circumstances. If you would like your family or friends to stay then you will need to discuss this with the ward staff and CF team. Only if they give you permission will your family or friends be able to stay. Please see ward policies for further information.
Mealtimes and food
A trolley service is available at meal times. There is also a waitress service so you can order food directly from the canteen menu that will be brought to you on the ward. Alternatively, you can use a dining room card provided by CF team so you can go to the canteen yourself anytime during opening hours.
There is a kitchen on Brearley 1, which is for CF patients only and that you will have access to at all times. There are stocks of snacks, drinks and some microwave meals that you can help yourself to whilst you are in hospital. Please try and keep the kitchen clean and always wash up after yourself. Please do not use the kitchen facilities if there is already a patient in there, this helps reduce the risk of cross infection.
What entertainment is there on the ward?
Other facilities in the hospital include a newsagent, cash machine and the CF unit has its own play station and CD player for use on the ward. If you want to bring in your own electrical equipment from home, our estates department must test these for safety before you can use them.
Can I leave the ward?
If you are well enough you will be allowed to leave the ward as long as you don't miss any treatment. This includes IV medication and physiotherapy. The staff on the ward will ask you to sign in and out when you leave the ward so they know where you are, approximately when you will be back and how to contact you. This is for your safety and to allow staff to know where you are in the event of fire. This includes leaving the ward to go to the canteen.
Why shouldn't I have contact with other CF patients?
The CF team advice our CF patients not to have any contact with other CF patients when they are in hospital, in clinic, or socially; this is particularly important for people with CF because research tells us that some bacteria carried by some CF patients can be spread and make lung function worse.
There is a Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust policy that highlights specific bacteria like Methicillin resistant Staphyloccocus aureus (MRSA) or Pseudomonas as having infection control implications in the hospital. For more information about the Trust's Infection Control Policy please ask a member of staff. If a patient is diagnosed with, or suspected to have one of these bugs then staff looking after these patients will be informed of this.
How do I get to hospital (Transport)?
Normally you would be expected to make your own way to the hospital. However, if you are unwell and need medical support during your journey to hospital then staff can arrange for taxi or a hospital medi-car to pick you up. In an emergency please call 999 for an ambulance, which will take you to an accident and emergency department.
What are the ward policies?
The CF unit and the staff on Brearley 1 and 2 have devised some policies which include information about what to expect when you are admitted to hospital, for example what do you do if you want to leave the ward or when to expect your medication. These policies are designed to make your stay on the ward more efficient and safe. You will be made aware of them when you get admitted to hospital.
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