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RESPIRATORY SERVICES IN DEMAND POST-PANDEMIC
Mersey Life talk to Dr Emily Hoodless and Dr Dilip Nazareth , Consultant Chest Physicians at Spire Liverpool Hospital .
It ’ s not surprising that in the aftermath of the pandemic , the demand on respiratory health services has grown . There ’ s a growing number of people suffering the effects caused by Long COVID amongst the usual diagnoses and monitoring of conditions like asthma and chronic respiratory disease .
Most respiratory services at Spire Liverpool Hospital are provided at the One Penny Lane Clinic by Dr Emily Hoodless and Dr Dilip Nazareth who are both Consultant Chest Physicians . We spoke to them about how they ’ re trying to support people dealing with their conditions as we move out of the pandemic .
What are the benefits of the service that you offer ? Patients come to us at Spire Liverpool without having to wait , and as you can imagine , post COVID there are extremely long waiting lists in respiratory health . That ’ s partly because lung function tests such as Spirometry had to stop during the pandemic and that ’ s meant that there ’ s a huge backlog of people waiting for these lung function tests at the moment . Spirometry is a simple test used to help diagnose and monitor certain lung conditions by measuring how much air you can breathe out in one forced breath . We are the only service in the region offering Spirometry tests by an accredited specialist physiologist ( Mr Rob Peat ) in a clinic environment .
What does that allow you to do ? The Spirometry tests help us identify and monitor a range of respiratory conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ( COPD ), asthma and pulmonary fibrosis which is scarring of the lungs .
We can check for improvement or deterioration of those conditions . At Spire , we ’ re able to do two Spirometry sessions in one sitting which means we can take the tests then administer medication and then do the tests again . This helps us diagnose asthma and reversible airway conditions . We can monitor disease progression and severity with these breathing tests too .
It allows us to see immediately how much benefit you may be getting from your medication and if this needs to be addressed .
Have the patients you see changed due to the pandemic ? We ’ re certainly seeing more people suffering with Long COVID where the patient remains breathless for a long time after the virus has gone .
Having the ability to carry out the Spirometry test here has meant we ’ ve been able to see a lot more people dealing with these symptoms , and we ’ ve been able to support them . They ’ ve got a hypersensitivity to their airways post COVID much like we see with asthma and we ’ re treating it in a similar way . It ’ s still early days in treating Long COVID so we will see over the next months and even years whether that is something that will settle down or whether it will be a permanent consequence .
You also offer a new specialist service for athletes , don ’ t you ? Yes , it might surprise you to find out that many athletes and those who exercise very regularly have respiratory problems , but traditional tests are not always the most suitable to diagnose and monitor these patients .
We have a unique service offered at Liverpool where Dr Hoodless works closely with Specialist Respiratory physiologists to assess respiratory problems in these individuals . It ’ s open to anyone in peak physical fitness .
With this being such a sporting area , we see a lot of runners – who may have asthma for example , and we have patients where exercise is part of their career . We even have people who travel across the country to come and see us for the service .
How can I get in touch with you ? Dr Hoodless offers appointments on Tuesday evenings and Dr Nazareth offers appointments on Wednesday evenings but we have other times available if needed . We try to run both clinics as one-stop clinics , with Spirometry services offered in parallel . The idea behind that is that patients can come in and have their tests done , x-rays and then see us so we ’ re able to have the benefit of all the results on the day .
You don ’ t need a GP referral you can just book directly by contacting the booking team .
At Spire Liverpool Hospital , our consultants have wide experience in the latest techniques and innovations and our inclusive prices and access to 0 % finance options make the process easy and more affordable . For further information on our broad range of procedures , and to find out more about our team of expert Consultants , search ‘ Spire Liverpool ’ or call our specialist advisors on 0151 391 7157 .
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