Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Welcome to the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) team at Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI). We provide a comprehensive range of general and specialist IBD clinical services to the population of Bradford and surrounding area for patients with a diagnosis of IBD. This involves inpatient hospital care and outpatient clinics at BRI delivered by consultants and specialist nurses.

The IBD team comprises of members from different specialist backgrounds who work together to deliver the best possible care for our patients.

All of the doctors within the team have a special interest in IBD. They will discuss your condition with you and decide along with you what would be the most appropriate way to investigate and treat your IBD.

Consultant gastroenterologist

You will be allocated a named consultant gastroenterologist who will have overall responsibility for your IBD care and will keep you up-to-date with your progress, but you will not necessarily see them at each appointment.

The IBD nurse specialists are senior nurses with specialist training in IBD. They provide a key role in assessing and monitoring patients on a range of drug therapies as well as providing expert advice and information on all aspects of inflammatory bowel disease. They are also the first point of contact via the inflammatory bowel disease advice line and email service.

You may be referred for assessment and treatment to other members of the IBD multidisciplinary team including surgeons and dietitians.

Patient Information leaflets are available for most of the medicines that are prescribed for IBD. Please ensure that you have read and understand the information, if you have any questions please call the advice line.

Azathioprine/Mercaptopurine

Adalimumab

Infliximab

Vedolizumab

Ustekinumab

Golimumab

Tofacitinib

Filgotinib

Upadacitinib

Risankizumab

 

Outpatient Pharmacy opening hours (Situated in ENT Outpatients, BRI)

• 08.30 – 17.30 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
• 08.30 – 18.00 Wednesday, Friday
• 09.30 – 13.30 Saturday (BRI only)

Prescriptions

If you need more than three prescription items in three months or 14 in 12 months it may be worth buying a Prescription Pre-payment Certificate.

The charge for a single prescribed medicine is £9.35 per item, whereas a three-month PPC costs £30.25 and a 12-month PPC £108.10.

The IBD MDT meeting is held once a month and is attended by a group of experts in the field of IBD to improve coherence and continuity of care.

The meeting is attended by gastroenterologists, surgeons, radiologists, histopathologists and the IBD nurses. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss any patients with complex problems, but we can discuss any patients if we feel it is necessary.

Endoscopy

Endoscopy is a procedure that involves looking inside the body with an endoscope, a fine tube with a camera at the end and a channel inside where tools can be passed to take biopsies or stretch a narrowed area. Most people with inflammatory bowel disease will need an endoscopy at some time. The ones you are most likely to need are sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy or gastroscopy.

Sigmoidoscopy

Sigmoidoscopy looks at the rectum and left-hand side of the large bowel (the sigmoid colon). You may need an enema just before the procedure to empty this area.

Colonoscopy

Colonoscopy looks at the rectum, the whole of the large bowel (sigmoid, transverse and ascending colon) and also the terminal ileum (end of the small bowel) in most cases. You will need to take some medicine the day before the procedure to clean out the bowel. Colonoscopies are usually carried out under sedation.

Gastroscopy

Gastroscopy looks at the oesophagus, stomach and part of the duodenum. You will be given a choice of whether or not to have sedation or a local anaesthetic throat spray.

Most endoscopies in Bradford are carried out on the Gastroenterology Unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary. This is found on level two near the Duke of York entrance on the corridor underneath Gastroenterology Outpatients.

RCGP’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Toolkit

Mercaptopurine Shared Care Guideline

Azathioprine Shared Care Guideline

The Patient Advice and Liason Service (PALS) offers free, confidential, on the spot help and advice to patients, their relatives and carers on healthcare issues.

The service aims to:

Help sort out problems quickly and efficiently
Provide advice, support patients, their families and carers
Provide information on health related issues
Listen to concerns, queries and suggestions in order to improve the services we provide

If you have any comments to make, perhaps the best time to raise them is while you are attending the hospital and where the ward staff will be more then happy to discuss things with you on an individual basis.

If you would prefer to speak, in confidence, to a PALS officer, they can be contacted at Bradford Royal Infirmary on 01274 364021 or at St Luke’s Hospital on 01274 365853 from Monday to Friday, 08.30am – to 16.30pm. Alternatively, please ask any member of staff to contact them on your behalf.

If you would be interested in joining any of our user/support groups please feel free to ring the PALS Office, who will give the appropriate information.

There are posters advertising PALS on each ward and leaflets are available from the patient information leaflet racks.

On your first visit to an IBD clinic you will be seen by a consultant gastroenterologist in one of their clinics. If you have had an endoscopy then you may have already had a brief telephone discussion with one of the IBD nurses about your diagnosis.

All of the clinics are held at Outpatients West on the first floor of the BRI. It is important that you always book-in at the main reception desk on arrival.

Adolescent Transition and Young Persons’ Clinic

This clinic is for young people who have been under the care of a paediatrician. It is held every three months and the young person is seen by a gastroenterologist and paediatrician. Moving from paediatric to adult care can be a difficult time – as a child your parents or guardian are responsible for your care, as an adolescent you have to learn to take on that responsibility yourself. This clinic is the first stage in that process.

Transition to adult care

Joint surgical clinic

In this clinic you will be seen by a gastroenterologist (not necessarily the doctor you normally see) and a surgeon. The clinic is for people who need, or would like, more information about surgical options. They run monthly.

Follow-up appointments

After your appointment you will be offered a subsequent appointment where you will be seen again by your consultant, a registrar, the specialist nurses or another member of the allied health professional team.

If you need to change your appointment this can be done via the contact centre on 01274 274274.

The main IBD clinics are held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, however people with IBD will also be seen in general gastroenterology clinics on other days. In clinics where the IBD nurse specialists are present, you may see either an IBD nurse specialist or a consultant.

Clinic days/times

All of the following clinics are held in the Gastroenterology Unit, BRI. This is on level three and the Duke of York is the closest entrance.

IBD is unpredictable and you never know when it is going to flare up. The IBD advice line is a point of contact for patients to call if they are having problems, or have any questions in between appointments. It gives patients easy access to advice and supports them in the management of their condition.

It can also reduce outpatient appointments and unnecessary visits to GPs. Patients feel that the advice line is one of the most important aspects of the IBD Service in Bradford.

• The IBD advice line is an answerphone service where you can leave a message if you have concerns/worries or you are becoming unwell
• We aim to return your call within 2 working days
• The advice line should not be used in an emergency
• If you have an urgent or out-of-hours need contact your GP, NHS 111 or attend the emergency department
• When leaving a message please speak clearly, leave your name, hospital number if you know it and a contact number
• Opening hours: 08.00 to 10.00 Monday to Friday. excluding bank holidays.
• The number to call is 01274 364822

Any non-urgent requests (e.g blood forms, prescriptions) can be emailed to us and we will respond within 48 working hours, please email us at ibd.nurse@bthft.nhs.uk

• Crohns and Colitis UK
  If your life is affected by Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis, Crohns and Colitis UK is here to help you.The charity’s confidential support services provide practical information, help and guidance.
• Ileostomoy and Internal Pouch Association
  The Ileostomy and Internal Pouch Association, known as IA, is a registered charity supporting people living with an ileostomy or internal pouch, their families, friends and carers.
• CICRA
  CICRA’s vision is a childhood unlimited by inflammatory bowel disease. The registered charity’s mission is to lead research into better treatments, to support children and families with relevant information and advice, and to work with health professionals to improve care and to give children a voice to increase public understanding of Crohn’s and colitis.
• IBD Registry
  The purpose of the IBD Registry is to improve care of patients and understanding of the treatments they receive, to enable research, and to increase knowledge about IBD in the UK.
• Prescription Prepayment Certificate
  If you regularly pay prescription charges, a PPC could save you money. A PPC lets you get as many NHS prescriptions as you need for a set price.

Adult blood tests (and children over 12)

• St Luke’s Hospital: Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm (except Bank holidays, closed 12-2pm) these are currently by appointment only.

If you have been asked to attend for a blood test, this can now be booked online following this link https://my.drdoctor.co.uk/clinic/bth-bloodtest

Bloods will be ordered by the IBD nurses prior to your appointment and a paper form is not currently required.

Travelling with IBD

For information on travelling with IBD, please click on the links below:

Travel & IBD

IBD Passport – Travelling with IBD

The IBD team we would like to say a BIG thank you to all our IBD patients and those who use our service.

We are working in unprecedented times and have had to adapt the way we work, reduced staffing levels in the office and managing guidelines and appreciate your understanding.

The service is still open to offer support or advice Mon-Fri 8:00-12:00 and we aim to return calls within 48 hours

If you are returning to work, please check the CCUK guidelines which are specific to IBD patients; they have plenty of information to help you adhere to government guidelines, CCUK have been constantly creating and updating their guidelines.

Please refer to https://crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/news/latest-coronavirus-vaccine-for-people-with-crohns-or-colitis for up to date covid vaccine information.

Latest Coronavirus information https://www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/support/coronavirus

Thank you again for your understanding and patience during this time.

Your IBD Team.