The Cocoon project, set up in Tayside, Scotland seeks to address the high rate of drug-related deaths in the area.
The project delivers point-of-care diagnosis of HCV in needle exchange sites, while also integrating services which typically require travel to alternate NHS sites to reduce the burden of multiple visits and different providers. The result is a ‘one-stop’ holistic care bundle which seeks to address the inequity of access experienced by PWUD by increasing their engagement through services tailored to their specific needs.
Lessons learnt from HepCATT for ODNs and GP practices
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This summary notes some of the lessons learnt from the HepCATT (Hepatitis C Assessment Through to Treatment)
Randomised Controlled Trial.
HepCATT tested an Hepatitis C virus (HCV) case-finding intervention in primary care. The intervention
involved:
• Algorithm integrated into electronic patient records systems to identify high risk patients
• Automatic mail-merge to create letters to invite high risk patients for testing
• Pop-ups alerts in patient records to encourage opportunistic testing
• Practice Staff HCV educational training
• Patient posters and leaflets explaining HCV risk factors and treatment options
The intervention aimed to increase case-finding, testing and treatment for HCV. The study found the intervention to be effective, acceptable to staff and highly cost-effective for the NHS.
The lessons learnt relate to training, screening lists, managing resources and opportunistic testing and should be useful to GP practices and ODNs.
