Respiratory Network
Greater Manchester’s approach to long Covid has inspired services for patients on the other side of the world.
A professor from New South Wales has thanked the Network’s clinical leads for influencing the tiered models of care which have been launched in the Australian state.
Professor Steven Faux contacted our leads, Dr Jennifer Hoyle, Professor Nawar Bakerley and Dr Murugesan Raja, on a fact-finding mission when he began planning how to organise pathways and services for their six million people.
In a letter to Prof Bakerley, he wrote: “Since speaking to you in April 2022 and exchanging academic and clinical aspects of the management of Long Covid I would like to formally thank you for your generosity with your time and observations.
“That interchange has resulted in a clear influence on the Long Covid Model of Care for New South Wales, a state of over 6 million people in Australia.”
The clinicians from both sides of the world have agreed to continue to communicate and share data related to the treatment of patients and collaborate on research and care.
Professor Bakerly said: "Clinicians in Greater Manchester have been at the forefront of delivering innovative and high-quality services for patients with Long Covid thanks to the dedication and innovation of our teams.
"This work has helped thousands of people who are living with the condition in our region and now it is pleasing to know our care model for long Covid services across GM has been adopted by healthcare system in New South Wales in Australia and is helping long Covid sufferers on the other side of the world."
Prof Faux works as a rehabilitation and pain physician at St Vincent’s Clinical School, the University of New South Wales, and is a director at St Vincent’s Hospitals in Darlinghurst.
Thousands of people in Greater Manchester who suffer from breathlessness are being urged to find out about a short exercise course which could improve their physical and mental health – part of a new campaign led by our Respiratory Network’s clinicians and support team.
Called ‘pulmonary rehabilitation’, the free, six-week course improves the physical and mental health of people with conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The campaign, called ‘Keep active, breathe better’, will also see the teams who run the courses visiting local GPs practices and primary care networks to give them information about the programme.
Many who have completed the course report an increase in energy and fitness levels.
Arthur, a former ballroom dancer who was devastated when his health condition meant he had to give this up, found a new love of yoga after completing the programme.
He said: “It has been amazing for both my physical and mental health.”
Former gym-bunny June saw her confidence knocked and anxiety increased when she was hit by breathlessness.
She said after the sessions: “I now have the confidence boost I desperately needed and I can see that this positively impacts my work and personal life.”
And Jean was able to walk down the red carpet in Hollywood to see her daughter win an Oscar after taking part in the programme.
“It has given me a new lease of life,” she said.
Respiratory nurse practitioner and our Network’s clinical advisor, Sue Mason, said: “We can see the difference these sessions make to people’s lives and pulmonary rehabilitation teams across Greater Manchester wanted to do something to make more people aware of this opportunity.
“Hopefully this campaign will increase appropriate referrals from GPs and make more people healthier and happier.”
GPs may be interested in finding out more about the programme on the campaign website – www.pulmonaryrehabgm.co.uk.
A woman whose brother was stillborn almost 50 years ago spoke at an event held by the Network about how maternity staff helped her trace his resting place.
She spoke at the 9th Annual Prevention and Management of Stillbirth Conference at the Macron Stadium, during a session about helping families affected by historic stillbirths.
The woman’s emotional speech detailed how important it was to her and her family that they managed to find details about his birth and where he was buried, and how grateful she was to the maternity staff in Greater Manchester who had helped.
More than 80 people attended the event, including clinicians, midwives and healthcare professionals.
They also heard about Ellie’s Gift app, which is a baby loss app to support families faced with the reality of delivering their baby that has died.
The app, which is the idea of mental health nurse Lucy who lost her child to stillbirth, will be piloted at St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester, and there are plans to roll this out further.
Earlier in the day, at the same event, the Network held its first preterm study day.
Professor Anna David, consultant in obstetrics and maternal/fetal medicine, University College London Hospitals NHS FT, gave a presentation about Caesarean section scars/uterocervical trauma, which included advice on how to assess scars and niches and their relationship to preterm birth.
The preterm session was led by Ghazia Saleemi, clinical lead for the Maternity Network and preterm lead for Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Saving Babies Lives programme.
As well as Professor David, speakers included Dr Andrew Sharp, senior clinical lecturer in obstetrics, Women's & Children's Health, University of Liverpool, Dr Purnima Gondane Sweetman, lead for preterm prevention clinic and lead for paediatric and adolescent gynaecology, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS FT, and Sarah Thomas, preterm specialist midwife, Saint Mary's, Wythenshawe.
The stillbirth event was led by Dr Elaine Church, consultant obstetrician, Manchester University NHS FT (Saint Mary's, Wythenshawe) and chair of the Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Strategic Clinical Networks’ Perinatal Loss Special Interest Group (SIG).
Speakers included Eileen Stringer, the Network’s clinical lead midwife, and Dr Gauri Batra, consultant paediatric, placental and perinatal histopathologist, Manchester University NHS FT (Royal Manchester Children’s).
The first in a series of blogs to explain and promote the Maternity Equity and Equality Plan has been published online.
Caroline Finch, programme manager for the maternity and neonatal safety improvement programme at Health Innovation Manchester, has written about the work happening in Greater Manchester to increase the number of people from ethnic minority backgrounds working in maternity and neonatal services to ensure the workforce is representative of our population.
She writes about her career in nursing and midwifery and how her passion in this area of health and her belief in the need for equity in services and the workforce led to her current role.
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The Network supported this year’s Safer Sleep Week, which was promoted by the Lullaby Trust.
A number of social media messages were posted to support the key messages of the campaign, which ran from March 13-March 19.
The Lullaby Trust is a charity which raises awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), provides expert advice on safer sleep for babies and offers emotional support for bereaved families.
The national awareness campaign targets anyone looking after a young baby. It aims to raise awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and the simple advice that reduces the risk of it occurring.
Three of our clinicians collaborated on a blog about the importance of a healthy mouth to mark this month’s World Oral Health Day.
The frailty and respiratory leads and advisors wrote about how maintaining good hygiene can have a positive impact on your overall health and wellbeing.
Dr Jennifer Hoyle, clinical lead for the Respiratory Network, Dr Saif Ahmed, clinical advisor for the Frailty Network and Prof Martin Vernon, clinical lead for the Frailty Network, published the blog on World Oral Health Day, March 20.
They wrote about how normally the body’s natural defences can maintain good oral hygiene, with the likes of daily brushing and flossing, which keeps bacteria under control, but without it, bacteria can reach levels that might lead to infections, such as tooth decay and gum disease. These can be uncomfortable and costly if you pay for your dental treatment.
And they highlighted lesser-known facts, such as poor oral health is associated with increasing your risk of developing other serious health conditions such as heart disease or diabetes.
Also, it puts you at greater risk of developing pneumonia, which is inflammation in the lung caused by an infection, especially if you are an older person living in a care home.
They stressed how important it was for people caring for someone at risk of, or living with, clinical frailty, to help them maintain good oral hygiene.
Professor Farzin Fath-Ordoubadi, the Network’s clinical lead, will be speaking at a Get It Right First Time (GIRFT) webinar in May.
The consultant cardiologist at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, will present an example of providing dedicated acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patient transport in Greater Manchester, reducing delays in accessing care.
GIRFT is a national programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through in-depth review of services, benchmarking, and presenting a data-driven evidence base to support change.
The webinar is called ‘Improving patient flow for acute coronary syndrome’ and all cardiac colleagues are welcome to join Professor Simon Ray, GIRFT’s clinical lead for cardiology.
The event will take place on MS Teams Live Events on Friday, May 19, at 1pm, and you can register here.
If you are unable to make the webinar, a recording will be shared with all registrants and will be temporarily available on the GIRFT website.
This month, the Network celebrated Healthcare Science Week, which was held from March 13-19.
The team shone a light on the work it is doing with cardiovascular healthcare scientists across the region to support the recovery of cardiac diagnostic services, promoting their importance on social media and the website.
The Cardiac Network is working alongside healthcare scientists across the region to improve joint working across diagnostic services.
Cardiovascular science involves studying known and suspected heart disease. Healthcare science staff undertake diagnostic, monitoring and critical procedures for patients.
Examples of cardiovascular science tests include:
- Echocardiography – using ultrasound to obtain pictures of the heart
- Pacemaker insertion and follow-up – taking measurements and programming pacemaker devices to make sure they are working properly.
A cardiac patient has spoken about how home monitoring has made a difference to his life while he waits for surgery.
The surgical elective recovery project was launched in early December 2022, and now allows outpatient surgery patients to be monitored, maintained and prepared for surgery using technologies such as tablets at home.
This potentially reduces need for admission to hospital for assessment and can also reduce pressure on GPs and community services.
John, 59, from Hyde, explains in a patient story how the project has reduced his anxiety and reassured him there would be swift help if any of the readings became worrying while he waits for his operation.
He said: “For me the service is working really well and it’s taken some of my worries away.
“I’m hoping to have my surgery and be recovered in time to celebrate my 60th at the end of the year.”
As of March 2023, 60 patients have been enlisted, and the first patient has been discharged.
The Greater Manchester Cardiovascular Prevention Plan has been finalised and published.
The plan calls for people from across Greater Manchester (GM) to come together, to support the system’s ambition for delivering better quality of life and healthcare outcomes for all, through tackling cardiovascular disease (CVD) via:
- An improvement in population health.
- A reduction in health inequalities aligned to CORE20+5 ethos.
- The delivery of better more personalised care through the transformation of community-based care
Despite the interruption caused by the pandemic 9,884 people started Healthier You in Greater Manchester over the past three years (January 2020 – December 2022).
Providing at-risk adults with personalised lifestyle changes, including better quality nutrition, weight loss and increased physical activity, the Healthier You programme has changed the lives of thousands of people across Greater Manchester.
Recent research from the University of Manchester found the risk of diabetes progression was 20% lower in people with pre-diabetes referred to the Healthier You when compared to similar patients not referred to the programme.
Previous research has found that those who attend achieve an average HbA1c reduction of 2.02 mmol/mol and weight loss of 3.3kg.
Dorothy from Manchester, attended Healthier You and said: “My waist has reduced by 4 inches and my weight has reduced by 1st 7lbs. I feel like I have my freedom back. I would definitely recommend the programme to others, it has helped me so much.”
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The Low-Calorie Diet programme team has been supporting practices in Greater Manchester to identify, invite and refer people into the programme.
Results from a trial showed almost half of those who went on the diet achieved remission of their type 2 diabetes after one year.
A deprescribing guidance document has been developed to ensure quality referrals and to support practices through the medication changes required ahead of a person starting the programme and beginning total diet replacement.
This has been shared with other contract areas across the country and included a toolkit that was shared with practices in Greater Manchester. The toolkit includes several resources to help practices to promote the programme with their local communities and make the referral process easier.
The year-long programme, that includes three months of total diet replacement alongside support to participants to improve their diet and exercise levels, reduces the need for diabetes-related and blood pressure medication and helps people achieve remission of their type 2 diabetes.
Derek, from Stockport, has completed the programme and seen some amazing results losing 12kg and reducing his blood glucose levels. He said: “I have exceeded my goals for weight loss and achieved my primary goal of not requiring medication. I feel healthier and more active.”
For more information about the Low-Calorie Diet programme, the medications deprescribing guide and toolkit, or support available to practices through Xyla’s engagement team, please contact Anna.Agar@xylahealth.com.
Involving stroke patients and carers has been pivotal in developing the region’s stroke and neurorehabilitation care pathways in the past eight years.
The Network now has two separate groups that regularly meet to help support service improvement, chaired by two people with lived experience.
The stroke group has been running continuously since 2016, and the Network recently convened a new neurorehabilitation forum. Both groups have around 12 members carefully selected to try ensure a diverse range of experiences including age, gender and residency etc.
Deb Drinkall was recently appointed as the new patient and carer involvement co-ordinator. Her role will help ensure maximisation of the impact of both groups while also working closely with voluntary sector organisations to enhance relationships, with a careful eye on how to address health inequalities.
Deb said: ”I’m delighted to be joining the Network in this new role and bring with me experience of developing and embedding co-production practice for a number of voluntary sector organisations, including MS Trust and Age UK.
“My experience also includes supporting the user involvement aspects of the NHS England ‘Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme’ and supporting the Health Care Professional development programme ‘Discovering Leadership’, both while working for Diabetes UK.
“Outside of work, among my passions I would include, fitness and physical wellbeing, adventuring and being mum to my two ‘tweens’. Until recently I was an avid runner, but for now I’m having to hang up my running shoes, as a result of mobility issues.
“I also have multiple sclerosis – and therefore bring my own lived experience of the value and place of patient and carer involvement in service delivery and improvement. I can’t wait to meet you all and get going!”
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