‘Patient who have learning disabilities and long term respiratory conditions were being seen in routine clinic within Chest Clinic, these appointment were not adapted to their individual needs, it was also identified that patient with respiratory condition and learning disabilities were high service users of out of hours / emergency care services.
Initially, a specialist asthma clinic was set up to address this gap in service, the clinic aimed to :
Tailor asthma education and management to people with varying degrees of learning disabilities
Aid compliance / adherence
Manage asthma more effectively
Improve quality of life.
Empower the patient
Reduce the use of emergency services and avoid hospital admissions.
Following the success of the asthma clinic, the service was rolled out to all patients with respiratory disease who have learning disabilities. All of the above strategies have been adopted to patient and all management plan are tailor made according to support, literacy, understanding and comprehension.”
Sharon Stothard, Chest Clinic Sister won in the Respiratory Nursing category Nursing Times award 2016 and was praised by the expert judging panel for providing a patient focused service with a team who is passionate about making a difference. Sharon identified problems for select groups of vulnerable patients and improved their service by going back to basics.
The award is recognition of the fantastic work Sharon and the Chest Clinic nursing team has done in providing a nurse-led learning disabilities respiratory service. The aim of the service is to tailor asthma education and management to people with varying degrees of learning disabilities, to aid compliance and enable the patient to manage their asthma more effectively. The wider aims are to improve quality of life, reduce access to emergency services and avoid hospital admissions. The service ensures that patients with asthma and learning disabilities are seen in a structured, well-supported clinic with the right literature, equipment and information available to them.
You can see the full presentation here
