News
Hot topics announced for DECON UK: what’s lurking in your sink?
Following the success of the conferences held in 2022, 2023 and 2024, DECON UK is back for the fourth year running with the 2025 conference, taking place at the National Conference Centre, Birmingham on Wednesday the 19 March 2025. Jointly run by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS
Trust, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, this year’s conference is themed around ‘DECON for the future’ covering important topics which are vital to the future of best practice within the decontamination and infection prevention sector. As with previous events, DECON UK 2025
aims to provide a high quality of educational content to delegates, with a comprehensive
programme featuring experts from all areas of the decontamination sector. Look forward to hearing from the following speakers this year: l Martyn Wilkinson l Mark Garvey l Linda Cooper l Sharon Fox l Phil Norville
Just some of the confirmed topics for this year’s event include: l Basics of Decontamination l What’s lurking in your sink? Past problems, present challenges and future technologies l Decontamination of Ultrasound Probes
DECON UK 2025 will be a valuable learning resource to all those who work within, or have an interest in, decontamination, sterilisation, and infection prevention and control. This year’s programme will be of particular interest to the following professionals: l Sterile Services Managers l Sterile Services Technicians l Decontamination Leads l Theatre Nurses l Clinical Scientists l Infection Prevention and Control Practitioners l Facilities Managers l Endoscopy Staff
You can find out more about this year’s programme at:
https://fitwise.eventsair.com/deconuk2025/ programme
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NHS opens new mpox vaccination sites
Twelve new mpox vaccination sites have opened across England. From this week, every region will be able to offer the vaccine for those at increased risk of getting the infection – after previously only being available to those eligible in London, Manchester and Brighton. While the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed the risk from mpox remains low, having more vaccination sites across the country will improve access to the jabs. Mpox is a rare infection most commonly found in parts of central and east Africa. Clade 2 mpox has been present in the UK since 2022 – case numbers have decreased since the height of the outbreak in 2022 and currently remain low. Separately, there has been a small number of cases of Clade 1b mpox in this country since October 2024. Mpox can be passed on from person to person through any close physical contact with mpox blisters or scabs. Steve Russell, NHS National Director for
Vaccination and Screening, said: “The NHS is fully prepared to respond to mpox and the latest cases of Clade 1b with local services pulling out all the stops to vaccinate those eligible since it first became present in England, and tens of thousands in priority groups already coming forward and getting protected. While the risk to the public remains low, it is important that eligible people across England are able to access mpox vaccines easily, which is why we are now offering the jabs at even more sites across the country in line with supply.”
Revolutionary gene-editing therapy for sickle cell disease
NHS patients with sickle cell disease will be able to benefit from a ground-breaking gene-editing treatment that offers the prospect of a cure for the condition. The one-off gene therapy, known as exagamglogene autotemcel (or ‘exa-cel’), has been approved for use on the NHS in England from by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for older children and adults with a severe form of sickle cell disease. Clinical trials suggest exa-cel can stop painful
and unpredictable sickle cell crises – the most common symptom of sickle cell disease – where blood vessels become blocked causing severe pain, with experts saying the therapy offers patients a chance of disease-free life. Researchers concluded there was a ‘functional cure’ in 96.6% of exa-cel trial participants that received it. NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said:
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www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I March 2025
“More than a step, this is a leap in the right direction for people with sickle cell disease – which can be an extremely debilitating and painful condition. This innovative, gene-editing therapy offers hope of a cure for people facing a severe form of the disease and could be absolutely transformative – it could enable patients to live free from the fear of sickle cell crises hanging over them. It is just the latest in a series of revolutionary gene therapies NHS England has secured for patients, and we are funding this new treatment option straight away so patients can benefit from the enhanced quality of life it offers.” Before the availability of this new one-time
treatment, the disease had required lifelong treatment regimens, greatly impacting on quality of life, with people suffering from chronic pain, fear of sickle cell crises, hospitalisation, and shortened
life expectancy, and many patients describe it as ‘looming over their daily lives’. In clinical trials, all patients who received exa-cel also avoided a hospitalisation for a year following treatment and almost 98% had still avoided hospitalisation around 3.5 years later. According to NHS data, there were just over 32,000 hospital admissions in England in 2023-24 for sickle cell disorders. Almost 14,000 of these admissions were admissions for sickle cell anaemia crises. A survey from the Sickle Cell Society found in the past 2 years, before the availability of exa-cel, a quarter (24%) of people with sickle cell disease had spent 1-2 weeks in hospital. The treatment will be offered at specialist NHS
centres in London, Manchester and Birmingham, and follows a deal in August 2024 for the NHS to access exa-cel for eligible patients with transfusion dependent beta-thalassaemia.
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