We are a community service within Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust working in partnership with UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Sheffield City Council. We provide specialist care, information, advice & support on all aspects of Tuberculosis (TB), including the prevention and treatment of TB, in clinic settings and the home, for people of all ages throughout Sheffield.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a preventable and curable infectious disease that most often affects the lungs and is caused by a type of bacteria. It spreads through the air when infected people cough, sneeze or spit. TB disease is usually treated with antibiotics and can be fatal without the correct treatment.
Latent TB Infection is when TB bacteria can live in the body without making you feel sick. The body is able to fight bacteria to stop them from growing for most people who breathe in TB bacteria and have become infected. About 5-10% of those diagnosed with Latent TB develop Active TB.
We work with all newly diagnosed patients and provide ongoing support at home and in clinics throughout treatment. We arrange screening for people who have been in contact with all active TB cases.
We also screen people coming to live in the UK from countries with a high rate of TB. These people will have had a chest x-ray in their own country before travelling to the UK but the x-ray would only identify TB in the lungs and not Latent TB infection. Latent TB can be detected by a blood test or skin test and treatment may be offered to prevent this becoming active.
We receive a list of newly registered GP patients who have arrived from areas of the world where TB rates are higher than 150 cases per 100,000 population (as defined by the World Health Organisation). They are then invited to contact us for an appointment for TB screening.
TB is a notifiable disease and active (or suspected active) cases must be referred to specialist services without delay. Referral should be made to acute secondary care.
Referrals into the TB nurse specialist team to support patients on treatment, contact screening, LTBI screening and BCG immunisations should be made via Single Point of Access. If you cannot access the Single point of Access link, please call the number below or see the dedicated Single Point of Access page here
Referrals from a secondary care hospital setting for inpatients are to be made via a Lorenzo Request for Service.
Community House
Vickers Corridor
The Northern General Hospital
Herries Road
Sheffield
S5 7AU
0114 226 6566 / 0114 271 3766 for healthcare professionals
Email: sth.spa@nhs.net
Manor Clinic
18 Ridgeway Road
Sheffield S12 2ST.
Tel: 0114 307 8390
Email: sht-tr.tbnurses@nhs.net
8:30am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday (excluding bank holidays)
We offer a citywide service.
This is currently being delivered by the TB Service and is now risk-based, targeting babies and children who are more likely to have had exposure to TB. If you think your child is eligible for a BCG vaccination, please contact your health practitioner/GP who will complete the relevant referral form.
