Notts services become first to micro-eliminate Hepatitis C
We are delighted to share that the Nottingham Recovery Network (NRN) has micro- eliminated Hepatitis C within all services where people access drug treatment in Nottingham city. Nottinghamshire Healthcare's Health Shop team is part of the NRN, which provides a single point of free support, advice and treatment for people facing drug and alcohol issues in Nottingham. City. Micro-elimination refers to achieving the elimination of the virus within a specific location or population.
This week is a great week to celebrate this achievement as it is European Testing Week (19-26 May), which is a campaign that encourages organisations and institutions - in community, health care and policy institutions - throughout Europe to unite for one week twice a year to increase testing efforts and promote awareness on the benefits of earlier hepatitis and HIV testing.
Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver. For Hep C to be transmitted there must be blood to blood contact with someone who has the virus. If you get hepatitis C it can result in inflammation and significant damage to the liver, which stops it from working properly. If left untreated it can lead to serious liver damage that can be fatal. This is why it is so important that you find out if you are at risk and how to get tested and treated.
The Health Shop is a small team that specialises in harm reduction and health promotion, and we offer advice and support around substance use and sexual health. We work specifically with people who use drugs, people experiencing homelessness, people within the LGBTQ+ community and refugees and people seeking asylum.
As part of their elimination work the team have been actively involved with the "Hep C U Later" campaign, also known as the "Hepatitis C Elimination Programme," which is a national initiative by NHS England to eliminate hepatitis C as a public health threat in England. The campaign aims to reach people who may not be aware they have hepatitis C, particularly those at risk due to factors like injecting drug use or unsafe healthcare practices.
Nottingham is an area with a high level of people experiencing severe and multiple disadvantage and this has meant we needed a really collaborative approach to engaging with people who not only need hepatitis C testing/treatment but to also access other health interventions.
Micro-elimination has been previously declared in Clean Slate, a specialist criminal justice drug/alcohol service in Nottingham city, and Shared Care services, drug/alcohol treatment provided in GP practices with a key worker support, which means we have now micro-eliminated in all services.
Amy Eagle, Care Group Director of Community Health and Specialist Services said:
This is absolutely fantastic news, huge congratulations to the Health Shop team and all those involved with the Nottingham Recovery Network for all the hard work they have put in to reach this huge milestone. They are dedicated to making a difference to those in need and this is just one brilliant example of that. Well done all.
Life can be very difficult for our service users. For them, treating their infection can be way down the list of priorities when life is challenging. However, through completing treatment, our service users have fed back what a difference it has made, some service users report sleeping better, that they feel their opioid substitution therapy (like methadone) script works better, they don't feel the stigma and shame of living with a treatable infection.
One service user commented: Getting my Hep C treatment complete, they did check on me throughout my treatment. Now Hep C negative, thank goodness! They give you so much advice, break things down for you. Fab service, great workers.
We have been working on this project for five years and it has been a multi-partnership achievement, nurses and Hep C workers at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), key workers across NRN/Clean Slate/Shared Care, data management, administrators, outreach workers, clinical specialists and harm reduction staff.
We have written and developed staff training to help teams understand how hepatitis C is transmitted, looked at the impact of stigma, barriers to testing and treatment and the impact of severe and multiple disadvantage. Our work has been recognised nationally, we have spoken at a variety of conferences and webinars.
Lou Wilkins, Team Leader at the Health Shop said: We are so thrilled to achieve this micro-elimination. The Health Shop team want to express how grateful they are to everyone who has been involved. Whether it's talking about Hepatitis C, supporting with testing and encouraging service users to take treatment - everything makes a difference. It's all about our service users - finding people who didn't know they were living with Hepatitis C, and that is why the work continues!
This was always about our service users - no one needs to be living with hepatitis C, it is easily treated and the medication is virtually side effect free. It is a tablet, taken between 8-12 weeks.
The Health Shop team will continue to support staff with their caseloads. Offering testing to anyone who requires it and to encourage new service users to test and get treated if they need it. In doing so we ensure NO ONE IS LEFT BEHIND
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