Changing lives
Your generous donations have supported a‘ gamechanging’ clinical trial that will greatly improve the lives of patients with severe lung disease.
Around 1,000 patients are admitted to Guy’ s and St Thomas’ each year with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease( COPD).
Patients are treated with oxygen therapy to try and manage the disease, but hospital admissions are still high. The use of a home ventilator in addition to the usual oxygen treatment has resulted in reduced admissions to hospital, as well as patients reporting an improved quality of life.
Frank Bird has been part of the trial since April 2015. He uses the home ventilator every night whilst he’ s sleeping, but it can also be at other times of the day if necessary.
‘ It’ s stopped so many hospital admittances,’ says Frank’ s wife, Val.‘ We were ending up in intensive care every six weeks or so, but we’ ve only been into hospital for an emergency once in the past 18 months.
‘ The difference this trial has made to our lives is huge. We’ ll be eternally grateful.’
Did you know …
… that your amazing support helps to run the MediCinemas, on-site cinemas at both Guy’ s and St Thomas’ hospitals. They show both adult and children’ s screenings and are designed to allow access to patients with wide-ranging needs, offering spaces for wheelchairs and beds as well as standard cinema seats.
I forgot my pain and why I’ m here – it felt like I’ d been out for the night. I was smiling for the whole evening afterwards.
Abdul, long-term patient
Patients who took part in the trial are
⅔ less likely
to be readmitted within 28 days.
Likelihood of readmission to hospital reduced by almost
50 %
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