In 2010 a clinical strategy for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is due to be published by the Department of Health.
COPD, an umbrella term including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, is responsible for 30,000 deaths a year and is the second largest cause of emergency hospital admissions in the UK.1
The BLF was the first organisation to campaign for a strategy for COPD, and has been working with the Department of Health since 2005 to help with the writing process.
The strategy will outline the minimum standards of treatment and care that people with COPD can expect to receive in their local area. It will include guidance on the provision of pulmonary rehabilitation, early and accurate diagnosis of the disease (see manifesto point 2) and the prevention of COPD (see manifesto point 7).
The BLF urges the next Government to commit to implementing the strategy for COPD and to ensure that adequate financial resources are dedicated to helping local health services meet the targets that it sets out.
Of key importance is making pulmonary rehabilitation more widely available.
Pulmonary rehabilitation, an exercise and lifestyle programme, is designed to help people with COPD to cope with breathlessness and to feel stronger and fitter2.
People with lung conditions often reduce the amount of activity they do because getting breathless can be frightening. However, this is counter productive as this leads them to become even more unfit, tired and breathless. Pulmonary rehabilitation helps to break this cycle.
In many areas access to pulmonary rehabilitation is limited and in some areas the service is not offered at all.3 The BLF calls on the next Government to ensure that pulmonary rehabilitation is available throughout the country.
The British Lung Foundation calls on the next government to ensure that significant funding and resources are dedicated to implementing the strategy in order to ensure a much needed improvement in NHS services for people with the disease.
