Two years after the launch of the Scottish Government’s Respiratory Care Action Plan to help rebuild services for people with lung conditions post pandemic, leading health charity, Asthma + Lung UK Scotland has found that patients are still facing massive delays in accessing vital pulmonary rehabilitation.
Following a freedom of information (FOI) request to all Scottish Health Boards, Asthma + Lung UK Scotland, found that in parts of Scotland, some people are waiting as long as 12-18 months (NHS Forth Valley) and that some health board waiting lists have more than doubled in the last two years (NHS Lanarkshire).
The FOI request also highlighted the lack of data available, which is a crucial to get a full picture of where the needs are and if they are being met. Of the 14 health boards, only seven provided information with different caveats attached. The other seven responded to say they did not collect the information or that the costs to collect the data exceeded the limit for requests.
In a survey of people living with COPD carried out by Asthma + Lung UK Scotland in 2022 only 50% of respondents in Scotland said there were offered pulmonary rehabilitation.1
Pulmonary rehabilitation is important to improve muscle strength helping patients breathe more easily, leading to improved fitness and mental wellbeing. This reduces the risk of being admitted to hospital for emergency care. Pulmonary rehabilitation should be viewed as a key preventative spend that reduces costly hospital admissions and improves the quality of life for people with lung conditions.
Two years on and very little has improved.
Joseph Carter, Head of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland said:
“Scotland has one of the highest respiratory death rates in Europe and although we are grateful that we have a national action plan, we are concerned about the lack of progress. This can be seen in the unacceptable wait for, or indeed lack of, vital respiratory rehabilitation for thousands of people with a lung disease across the country.
“1 in 5 Scots live with a lung condition, it is one of the major chronic conditions in our nation costing the public over £1 billion a year, and yet it is not seen as a priority. This needs to change. We need to an action plan, not an inaction plan.
“The Respiratory Care Action Plan needs to be fully funded and health boards need to rebuild services in their local areas. This requires political leadership from the new Public Health Minister.”
Linda McLeod BEM, age 74 has COPD Emphysema. She is chair of the Breathe Easy group in Clackmannanshire for people living with lung conditions. She has previously had pulmonary rehabilitation. She said:
“I definitely felt the benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation, I noticed fewer symptoms, less coughing and shortness of breath. You are able to walk more as the sessions help improve your ability to exercise. Best of all, your overall quality of life improves.
“The members of the Breathe Easy group I help to run, who have attended pulmonary rehabilitation, said it made them feel so much better in themselves and that speaks volumes. Living with a lung disease is a debilitating condition and anything that can be done to improve quality of life has to be applauded.”
-ENDS-
Notes to Editor
1) Delayed Diagnosis and Unequal Care: The reality for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the UK in 2022, based on a survey of 6,500 people reveals that the average wait for COPD diagnosis is five years.