The Immunology department at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital looks after more than 300 patients with immunity problems.

Most people who suffer from recurrent infections have a completely normal immune system.  However a small number of adults and children are born with mild or severe abnormalities of their immune systems which make them more prone to infection, sometimes with serious consequences.

In our clinics and laboratory we investigate people who suffer from recurrent, severe or unusual infections to test whether we can identify a problem with their immune system.

We also provide a service for patients with hereditary angio-oedema. This is a rare inherited disorder of the immune system that results in unpredictable and occasionally serious skin or abdominal swellings.

Patients who require life-long immune replacement treatment (such as immunoglobulin) need to be able to chose from a range of options in order to find a treatment that suits them. We are the only immunoglobulin home therapy training centre in the region, and can offer this service for both intravenous and subcutaneous therapies to patients from other clinics and Trusts.

Information for GPs

If you would like to receive specialist advice where you feel a referral to an outpatient appointment could be avoided, we provide this through the national Choose and Book system. This is the most secure and convenient way to contact our Consultants.

The link to the Choose and Book application is https://nww.ebs.ncrs.nhs.uk (requires Internet Explorer version 6 or above) make sure you select request type ‘Advice’, specialty ‘Immunology’ and the clinic type ‘Immunodeficiency’. You can also search using a consultant’s name.

We aim to respond within 5 working days but often exceed this. Read Page 10 of this document http://www.chooseandbook.nhs.uk/staff/communications/fact/adviceandguidance.pdf to explain in more detail how to request advice through Choose and Book.