Recently, the second of three purpose-built Spirometry Diagnostic Units arrived at Kestrel House in Chelmsford. Delivered on behalf of the Mid and South Essex Community Collaborative (MSECC), these cabins are innovative modular units designed to deliver testing and diagnosis of respiratory conditions across mid and south Essex.

The first cabin arrived at Rochford Community Hospital in April, with another unit going to a North East London NHS Foundation Trust site in Essex in the coming months.

The new units are part of the MSEHCP ICS work to increase respiratory diagnostics support available to patients, reduce waiting times for care provision and provide a safe environment to treat respiratory issues. The units overcome difficulties in providing adequate spaces in busy health facilities to safely treat respiratory illnesses. They also enable us to provide secure support at specially dedicated onsite facilities, providing support to patients in a location where service users will not be in close proximity to high-traffic areas of health campuses prone to respiratory-based infections and specifically reduces risks related to COVID-19.

The MSECC, who are facilitating the provision of increased Spirometry resource across mid and south Essex, was formed in September 2020 to review how community health services can best meet the needs of the local community, it comprises three organisations, Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), North-East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) and Provide Community Interest Company (Provide CIC).

Provide Group Chief Nurse and Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Dawe shared her thoughts about the new support for Kestrel House:

“We’re very happy to have such an investment in Spirometry Diagnostic Services, not only here at Kestrel House but across some of our key locations across mid and south Essex. It increases the scope of available support for identifying and diagnosing respiratory conditions such as Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

With a purpose-built space onsite, we can ensure service users are receiving dedicated specialist care more flexibly in accessible locations closer to home. Beyond the provision of the support in much-needed areas, these new services also build resilience and sustainability into the health system which helps to future-proof and safeguard against long term issues/future health challenges.”

We look forward to sharing more as the new unit is progresses toward completion and opening.