Sally Singh contributes to report urging services to have lead on asthma, COPD and pulmonary rehab
Physiotherapist Sally Singh, who is professor of pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation at the University of Leicester, is one of the authors of a report titled Drawing Breath that was published last month by the Royal College of Physicians.
Drawing Breath is described as the first ‘state of the nation’ report to combine data on asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pulmonary rehabilitation across primary and secondary care services. It offers recommendations for commissioners and providers, clinical teams and people with asthma and COPD, their families and carers.
The report is the latest in a series to be produced by the National Asthma and COPD Audit Programme (NACAP), whose senior clinical lead is John Hurst. In a foreword to the report, Professor Hurst says that more than nine million people in the UK have a diagnosis of asthma or COPD.
‘The primary role of NACAP is to support individual clinical teams to make improvements in the quality of care they deliver,’ he says. ‘We do this by supporting and training clinicians, empowering people living with asthma and COPD and their carers, and informing policy.’
Everyone admitted to hospital due to a deterioration in their asthma or COPD [should] have access to timely specialist advice and each service [should] have a named person with responsibility for leading and improving asthma, COPD and pulmonary rehabilitation services
Pandemic ‘stretched respiratory staff to their limits'
Professor Hurst notes that the data in the report were gathered when the Covid-19 pandemic ‘stretched respiratory staff and services to their limits’, and that any direct comparisons with previous reports should be 'interpreted with caution'. More than 700 services in England and Wales submitted data to the report, which is informed by 103,194 case records. These records relate to people with asthma and COPD admitted to hospital with an exacerbation and people with COPD assessed for pulmonary rehabilitation.
The report sets out ‘five ambitions for change’, which are to
- improve provision of early and accurate diagnosis
- improve provision of timely care
- improve provision of care received from the right people
- empower people with asthma and COPD and their carers by providing joined-up care pathways and high-quality information
- minimise variation in care contributing to health inequalities
More details on the the third ambition is given as follows: 'For everyone admitted to hospital due to a deterioration in their asthma or COPD to have access to timely specialist advice and for each service to have a named person with responsibility for leading and improving asthma, COPD and pulmonary rehabilitation services.'
More on Sally Singh
Professor Singh is also the head of pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, combining that post with roles at the University of Leicester’s Department of Respiratory Sciences and Coventry University’s School of Physiotherapy.
According to the University of Leicester, Professor Singh's research specialisms include pulmonary rehabilitation and digital interventions to support rehabilitation and recovery. Alongside the team from University Hospitals of Leicester NHS, she has been working with national clinical leaders to build the ground-breaking ‘Your Covid Recovery’ online service and is working with the NHS to roll it out across the country, it states.
Professor Singh is also leading the development and delivery of rehabilitation for patients with chronic lung disease and cardiovascular disease, including face-to-face and home-based interventions. She Professor has also been awarded NHS-E funding to develop a post-Covid-19 digital recovery programme and is leading the British Thoracic Society’s guidance on pulmonary rehabilitation.
To download copies of Drawing breath. Key messages and improvement recommendations for the asthma and COPD care pathway. Summary report. London: RCP, 2023. ISBN 978-1-86016-876-5, visit: https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/drawing-breath-clinical-audit-report-202122
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