1500 Patients Cared for by Home Ventilation Team

A total of 1500 patients with lung and chest problems have now been treated at home by University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust’s Home Ventilation Team.

The service, run from the Chest Clinic at Derriford Hospital, has reached an amazing milestone in the history of home mechanical ventilation, after almost 20 years.

Starting with just 38 patients in 2004, patients originally had to travel to London to the Royal Brompton Hospital for a prolonged inpatient stay. Consultant Chest Physician Phil Hughes and Nurse Consultant Jon Palmer set up the service to stop patients having to make that long journey for treatment.

Phil explained: “Our patients, for various reasons, can't support their own breathing. This causes quite nasty symptoms and can have a major impact on their life expectancy.

“Some of those patients started with us as children and some have come as adults who have developed a problem very much later in life. They all face the same problem, that without some form of support with mechanical ventilation, their life expectancy will be dramatically curtailed, and they'll be very symptomatic as well.”

The success of the service is down to an expert team of consultants, nurses, lung function technicians, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists.

Phil added: “We have demonstrated that it’s a very safe and cost-effective service, patients prefer it, there are no delays, and often you don’t have to bring people into hospital - you can go straight to their house.”

There are now over 500 patients aged between 17 and 80 years old who are using this life changing and prolonging therapy in the community locally, with many not even coming into the hospital to start treatment.

“We've been immensely lucky that the staff who have joined the service have been incredibly passionate and have driven the service forward to become the second largest service in the southwest next to Bristol.”

The Chest Clinic Team also provides nurse-led clinics for asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis and sleep apnoea and works closely with colleagues in Radiology, Thoracic Surgery, Oncology, Pathology and Palliative Care.

In addition to the consultant-led respiratory outpatient service at Derriford Hospital, clinics are also held at Kingsbridge, Liskeard, Launceston and Tavistock.