Working Life: Hepatitis C is now highly curable and treatment is straightforward

Gail Hawthorn is a clinical nurse specialist in hepatitis C liaison

Gail Hawthorn, clinical nurse specialist in hepatitis C liaison at Castle Street in Dublin's City Centre. Picture: Gareth Chaney

“My heart always lay with either teaching or nursing, but nursing won out, and in 1991, I began training in Belfast City Hospital. Moving in with friends from home and living independently for the first time was a huge thrill.

“After qualifying in 1994, I worked in the Channel Islands before moving to Dublin. I started working in the National Drug Treatment Centre. I quickly realised how much I enjoyed the work — meeting interesting people, hearing their stories and helping where I could. I was lucky to land among a great group of colleagues, and I’ve stayed in addiction services since.

“In the early 2000s, I took a career break and travelled in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Along the way, I worked in drug courts and prison health services in New South Wales, and in Vancouver’s supervised injection site and detox services. It was a brilliant learning experience to see different approaches to addiction and treatment.

“When I returned to Dublin, I applied for the role of clinical nurse specialist in hepatitis C liaison. Back then, hepatitis C treatment was long and difficult, with mixed success. That changed with the arrival of new direct-acting antivirals. Treatment is now tablet-only, short in duration, very well tolerated and has an extremely high cure rate.

“In 2017, the National Treatment Programme began a pilot that allowed suitable patients to receive hepatitis C treatment in the same clinics where they attend for opioid substitution therapy. Working with Dr Margaret Bourke, whose tireless energy has been a driving force behind the project, we began treating people on site, bringing care to where patients already were. Since then, we’ve treated people across Dublin and beyond.

“Alongside treatment, we focus on liver health, alcohol awareness, healthy weight and reducing risk of re-infection. Liver disease is rising globally, but hepatitis C is highly curable. If you think you may have been at risk, testing and treatment are straightforward, including the home test from the National Hepatitis C Treatment Programme at hepctest.ie, and hospital services provide excellent care.

“Outside of work, life is busy and happy — two dogs, two children and a very patient husband.”

• The HSE has expanded its free hepatitis C home testing service to include a new rapid oral swab test. It delivers results in 20 minutes and can be ordered online, see hepctest.ie and exa.mn/Hep-C