See what the ImpACT+ team are doing to raise awareness this Pulmonary Rehabilitation week
This week (16 to 22 June) is the National Pulmonary Rehabilitation Week. At the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB) we are fortunate to have the dedicated respiratory service, ImpACT+. ImpACT+ deliver the Pulmonary Rehabilitation across Southern Derbyshire and Derby City.
The ImpACT+ team, based at Florence Nightingale Community Hospital (FNCH), incorporates a wide multi-disciplinary team. This comprises of Specialist Respiratory Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, and Fitness Instructors. The team are supported greatly by Respiratory Consultants and an Administrative team.
The wider team within ImpACT+ operates holistically responding to patient requirements. This includes outpatient clinics and home visits across the service, Virtual Multidisciplinary Meetings and other group therapies such as the Fatigue and Breathless (FAB) group. Through the service, this allows us to maintain links through primary and secondary care for effective patient treatment.
To raise awareness of Pulmonary Rehabilitation within the Southern Derbyshire region, the ImpACT+ team are completing an exercise challenge across National Pulmonary Rehabilitation Week. The challenge will be to achieve the distance of 2000km, the distance from Florence Nightingale Community Hospital to Rome, Italy.
Gary Spencer, Fitness Instructor with the ImpACT+ team explains: "Pulmonary Rehabilitation is a programme of exercise and education for people with chronic lung disease. An example of this would be Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), or Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD). The aim of this would be to empower the patient with their breathlessness and manage their daily symptoms by increasing their knowledge and confidence."
Philippa Thornton, Specialist Respiratory Physiotherapist within the ImpACT+ team says: "Pulmonary Rehabilitation is a key element to Respiratory rehabilitation which combats the cycle of inactivity, due to the patients' limitations caused by breathlessness. The course is delivered twice a week across a six-week period and comprises of cardiovascular exercise and strengthening of larger muscle groups."
The ImpACT+ continue to raise awareness, highlighting our specialist service and improving accessibility across Southern Derbyshire in a variety of locations. These currently include Alfreton, Ashbourne, Belper, Ilkeston, Long Eaton and Swadlincote alongside our main base at Florence Nightingale Community Hospital. It is a vital and very effective programme that is scientifically proven to support people with a respiratory disease to remain well at home and reduce future hospital admissions.