Tuberculosis (TB) clinics
Oxfordshire TB Service runs a range of different clinics during the week.
TB screening
Mondays 9.30am - 12 noon
Specialist Medicine Unit, Churchill Hospital.
Follow signs to Car Park 4, enter via the East Entrance, turn left and look for signs.
Churchill Hospital site map (pdf)
How to find the Churchill Hospital
Screening
One of our TB nurses will explain the reasons for your appointment. We will ask some questions about your health, to rule out any signs of active TB disease, and assess if it is likely your immune system has met TB bacteria e.g. due to travel history or country of birth.
We will then conduct either a Mantoux skin test or a special blood test to see if you have ever met TB bacteria.
If we conduct an Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) blood test, we will also ask for your consent to check your liver and screen for Hepatitis and HIV.
For information about these tests please visit:
Diagnosis | Tuberculosis (TB) - NHS website
Results take around three to four days. We will contact you with your results, and send a letter to you and your GP. If the blood test / Mantoux test are positive, we will refer you to our TB consultant and request a chest X-ray.
If the patient is a child, we will refer them to our specialist paediatric team.
Skin tests
If you have a Mantoux skin test, we may ask you to attend again on a Wednesday afternoon, as it needs to be read 48-72 hours after the test is carried out to obtain an accurate result. We will do our best to tell you before your appointment if you will need a skin test.
Vaccinations
Certain vaccinations can affect the reliability of tests, so if you have had any vaccinations within the four weeks before your screening appointment, please contact us.
Tel: 01865 225255
Banbury Consultant TB Clinic
Third Monday of the month 2.00pm - 5.00pm
Outpatient Department, Horton General Hospital
Horton General Hospital site map (pdf)
How to find the Horton General Hospital
For patients referred to our TB consultants by TB nurses, Occupational Health or other health professionals for diagnosis of active vs latent TB, and for patients receiving treatment for active TB.
Appointments can take from 30 minutes to over an hour, depending on the diagnosis.
We may take some blood tests, an electrocardiogram (ECG) or chest X-ray. If medications are needed, we try to get these ready on the day if at all possible.
Telephone consultations
Tuesdays 9.30am - 12 noon
For patients diagnosed with latent/sleeping TB and taking preventative medications to kill the sleeping bacteria.
We call to check there are no adverse side-effects and ensure the medications are being taking correctly. This is extremely important given the rise in antibiotic resistance.
Multi-drug resistant TB, although not prevalent in the UK, is on the rise worldwide. If latent TB medications are consistently taken incorrectly, the antibiotics may not kill all the TB bacteria, which could then develop resistance.
TB Consultant Clinic
Wednesdays 2.00pm - 5.00pm
Respiratory Medicine Outpatients, Churchill Hospital
Follow signs to Car Park 4, enter via the East Entrance, turn left and look for signs.
Churchill Hospital site map (pdf)
How to find the Churchill Hospital
For patients referred to our TB consultants by TB nurses, Occupational Health or other health professionals for diagnosis of active vs latent TB, and for patients receiving treatment for active TB.
Appointments can take from 30 minutes to over an hour, depending on the diagnosis.
We may take some blood tests, an electrocardiogram (ECG) or chest X-ray. If medications are needed, we try to get these ready on the day if at all possible.
Cancellations
If you are unable to attend your appointment, whether face to face or by telephone, please tell us as soon as possible so we can offer it to someone else.
Our clinics are busy: if you change your appointment, we will do our best to see you as soon as we can, but we cannot say how long it will be.
Last reviewed:18 November 2022