NHS collaboration allows patient with severe autism to enjoy first holiday
16 May 2025 - Teams from King’s College Hospital and University College London Hospital came together to administer vaccines
A 19-year-old patient with severe autism and learning difficulties will be able to enjoy his first family holiday after clinicians at King’s College Hospital and University College London Hospital (UCLH) worked together to administer yellow fever, rabies and typhoid vaccines.
Terence Panzu-Lema from Wandsworth, south-west London, has extreme needle phobia, so his family thought he would be unable to enjoy a family holiday in the Democratic Republic of Congo, planned for this summer, as he did not have the necessary vaccinations.
But when his mother asked the Special Care Dentistry Team at King’s College Hospital whether the vaccines could be administered while Terence was having routine dental treatment under general anaesthetic at King’s, the team was keen to help.
Following a number of best-interest meetings, King’s linked with UCLH, which has a travel clinic service and can administer yellow fever vaccines.
From there, teams from King’s, including the Special Care Dentistry Team, Anaesthetics Department and Human Resources, worked with teams at UCLH, including their Hospital for Tropical Diseases’ travel clinic service, learning disabilities and pharmacy teams, and Dr Chris van Tulleken – from CBBC’s Operation Ouch – to ensure the vaccines were ready to administer before Terence had his dental treatment at King’s.
Terence’s mother, Chantal Panzu (pictured with Terence below), said, “A conversation with a wonderful nurse called Alice at Springfield Hospital (part of South-West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust) gave me the confidence to ask whether Terence could be vaccinated while he was having his dental treatment. Because of his condition, he was due to have six filings under general anaesthetic, so it seemed like a good opportunity to get his travel vaccines at the same time.”
Charlotte Curl, Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at King’s, said, “When we received the request from Terence’s mum, who has always been very proactive in advocating for her son, we wanted to try and make it work. It involved co-ordinating many members of a number of teams from the two different hospitals to come together to enable both the dental care and the vaccines to be delivered consecutively while Terence was anaesthetised.”
Sneha Baljekar, Lead Clinical Nurse Specialist for Travel Health at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases at UCLH added, “It was wonderful to support Terence and Chantal with this journey. The whole team is delighted that we were able to provide this service for Terence and reassurance for his family to be able to travel safely in future.”
Terence’s mother, Chantal, added, “Everyone we encountered on this journey, both from King’s and UCLH, has been amazing. I can’t thank them enough for enabling Terence to be able enjoy his first family holiday.”
The Special Care Dentistry Team at King’s provides dental treatment to patients living in south London for whom dental treatment within the community is not possible. This includes people who have physical disabilities, complex medical conditions, learning disabilities, sensory issues, severe mental health conditions, and severe anxiety or phobias.
The Hospital for Tropical Diseases’ travel medicine service aims to enable people with complex health needs to travel safely. This includes individuals with immunosuppression, those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, infants and older travellers, and anyone for whom travel requires additional support or management. It is a specialist clinic and sees patients from all over the UK.