Northwick Park Hospital will become one of the country’s vanguard tuberculosis treatment centres after a tender agreement for new drugs was signed.

As a Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis centre (MDR-TB), London North West Healthcare NHS Trust hospitals, including Northwick Park, will be able to prescribe the most up-to-date TB treatment drugs to patients following a successful tender to NHS England.

MDR-TB occurs when bacteria fails to respond to a combination of two of the four main antibiotics used to treat the infection.

By becoming a MDR-TB centre, the trust will be able to prescribe Badequiline and Delamanid, two of the newest TB treatments available.

Northwick Park already has established TB services which, together with Ealing and Central Middlesex hospitals, manage more than 500 cases a year.

In February, the purpose-built Elgar Ward opened at Northwick Park, providing 15 single rooms all with their own negative pressure units to prevent cross infection.

The news came in the same week that Peter Worthington, chairman of the London North West Healthcare NHS Trust, was reappointed to the post.

As chairman, Mr Worthington steered the organisation through a number of major changes, including the merger of the North West London trust with Ealing Hospital NHS Trust.

Mr Worthington said: “I am delighted to be reappointed as chairman of the trust.  I am extremely proud of all that we have achieved since coming into being in 2014 and especially proud of our staff and services who provide care to the people of Brent, Ealing and Harrow”.

Mr Worthington’s new term will start on Thursday and continue until September 21, 2018.