HEPATITIS C
THE CHALLENGE TO GPS
‘ Join the party , save a life – test someone for hep C ... There ’ s an enormous amount of work we can do together .’
PROF GRAHAM FOSTER
‘ We need to find people with hepatitis C who have tested positive but not been treated ,’ Prof Graham Foster , professor of hepatology at Queen Mary University of London and clinical lead for hepatology at Barts Health told GPs . He was speaking at the 25th RCGP and SMMGP Managing Drug and Alcohol Problems in Primary Care conference , held online . There were people registered as having the virus , who were not being offered treatment , he said . ‘ Look through your practice records and find them .’
Others might be harder to find , such as people who had injected drugs in the past and had long put the lifestyle behind them . Look for the risk-takers – the ‘ exdrug users who are hiding away in plain sight ’, he said . ‘ Anyone who has ever injected drugs is at high risk of HCV .’
With treatment options better than ever before , the cure rate was 96 or 97 per cent . The NHS was ‘ committed to elimination ’ with a £ 200m a year budget , and he called on GPs to be fully involved in the ‘ fast and aggressive ’ programme .
Catching and curing early was important – the younger the patient , the better the chances of a good outcome , before liver scarring , cirrhosis and cancer , and there had never been a better time for treatment . Medications produced by three different pharmaceutical companies not only tackled the different strains ( genotypes ) of hep C – the competition between manufacturers had driven the price down , so ‘ we really can afford for everyone to be treated ’.
‘ Join the party ’, ‘ save a life – test someone for hep C ’, he urged . With financial incentives for GPs to find and treat patients the invitation was viable as well as aspirational . ‘ We will roll out the red carpet for enthusiasts ,’ he told GPs . ‘ There ’ s an enormous amount of work we can do together .’
More reports from the conference in our May issue
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Stuart Green launches a series of regular columns to develop a lived experience recovery movement
This month The College of Lived Experience Recovery Organisations ( CLERO ) starts a series of bimonthly columns . Our aim is to keep all Lived Experience Recovery Organisations ( LEROs ) up to date with developments , activities and milestones to support the growth and credibility of the LERO movement in the UK .
We are establishing a structure with three tiers : Tier 1 Coordination and oversight group of around 12 members Tier 2 Lived Experience Recovery Organisations , each represented by one spokesperson Tier 3 Professionals , commissioners , associated groups and all those who want to support the College of LEROs
‘ LEROs have a much-needed role to fulfil ... through the voices of lived experience .’
We ’ ve currently had 45 applications to join from Lived Experience Recovery Organisations to date . The rationale for joining tier 2 is the opportunity to co-produce a shared evidence base , access funding opportunities , develop evidencebased practice , and establish quality standards to promote local and national recognition .
Tier 2 membership also brings the unique ability to connect
CLERO
with other LEROs through events and press releases , and to build connections , support networks and knowledge about innovative practice . Our next online event for CLERO tier 2 is on 23 April and will be facilitated once more by our friends Peter and Yvonne from Axiom News Events . To join this coalition of LEROs on our journey please follow this link for membership : https :// forms . gle / czYLpBouxHQMWKnj8
The CLERO has secured a grant from the Big Lottery to support our programme of work and build an evidence base around LEROs across the country . One of the initial tasks for the CLERO coalition is mapping the strengths and innovations of LEROs by building a research network of lived experience researchers and initiating a process to develop quality standards .
LEROs have a much-needed role to fulfil in the Recovery Orientated System of Care . Through the voices of lived experience , the coalition hopes to influence and shape the local and national treatment and recovery landscape for people who suffer from addiction issues . The proposed approach has been designed by members of LEROs in order to create a local , regional and national voice that can support quality standards , evidence good care in formal treatment settings and contribute to policies and decisions relating to service provision .
We are also delighted to announce that William White has kindly agreed to be patron of CLERO . Stuart Green , CLERO member ( Aspire service manager , Doncaster )
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