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National Point-of-Care Strategy

Increasing antimicrobial resistance observed globally in key Gram-negative bacteria and failure of the antimicrobial development pipeline to keep up has left clinicians with few remaining treatment options. This presentation will: i) highlight the current gaps in our antimicrobial armamentarium (with a focus on the World Health Organisation critical priority pathogens); ii) give an overview of new antimicrobials that have reached phase 3 clinical trials and other therapeutic approaches currently in the pipeline; and iii) share experience from the reference laboratory.

This lecture will overview previous viral pandemics affecting humans and highlight lessons learned (or not). This lecture will provide the audience with background information relevant to the two subsequent talks on pandemics currently affecting and what might come next. At the end of this talk the audience will have knowledge on some major pathogenic viruses that have impacted hugely on the human population including:

Smallpox; influenza; polio; yellow fever; HIV and Ebola that bring us up to the novel coronavirus outbreaks that have plagued mankind during more recent years.

Pandemics Present

Chronic lung infection is the leading cause of morbidity and early mortality for people with cystic fibrosis (pwCF). Microbiological surveillance to detect lung pathogens is recommended as best practise in CF patient care. Here we studied pathogen detection in forty pwCF over several years. We found that microbiological culture, the diagnostic gold standard, was significantly disparate to targeted culture-independent approaches for detection and determination of chronic infection status of two important pathogens in CF. Pathogen detection was significantly lower by culture and consequently infection status was also misclassified in the majority of cases.

In particular, the extent of chronic infection by both Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus not realised with culture was striking. Our findings have implications for the development of infection and clinical care of pwCF. Future longitudinal studies with greater patient numbers will be needed to establish the full extent of the clinical implications indicated from this study.

It is clear that the interaction of humans with animals and the environment has been at the centre of infectious disease emergence and spread through out history. Recent global events have shown that this is still the case, or at least likely to be! Close contact with animals and our collective movements in and out of each others environments has the potential to permit transmission of organisms that have the potential to cause zoonotic or indeed enzoonotic disease. We need to consider this aspect carefully to understand what mitigations we might need to put into place and also what considerations might need to be taken on board in the light of changes to infection patterns as a possible consequence of climate change.

To introduce a discovery community Point of Care Testing project that is working collaboratively with primary and secondary care.

By working in wider partnerships, the project aims are to scope and work towards recommendations and collaboration to deliver effective and measurable benefits for safer patient care and a governance led service, aligned to national NHS strategy plans.

Quality in IT Procurement

An overview of Red Cell Immunohaematology (RCI), the services offered and how we fit in within the wider healthcare system.

Example cases starting with single specificity through to complex antibody identification using a variety of techniques. Discussing the need for consultant input when serology cannot be resolved and what happens next.

We will briefly cover duties beyond serology performed as a biomedical scientist and how these fit in nationally as well as locally.

Finishing on the progression routes through RCI, NHSBT and the wider transfusion community.

Resuscitation with Pre-Hospital Blood Products (RePHILL) trial