The Redbridge community suffers from varied Respiratory long term conditions ranging from COPD to pulmonary fibrosis. The Community Respiratory Team are specialist health care professionals who offer holistic treatment, care and self-management programmes for respiratory patients.

From 1^st January 2020, the respiratory service will be accepting referrals of age group 18 and above.

The service:

• supports patients diagnosed with chronic respiratory conditions
• supports patients in being proactive in the self management of their condition
• provides home oxygen therapy assessments
• provides pulmonary rehabilitation programmes
• provides management and care for patients in a community or home setting.

With both nurses and physiotherapists, the team prides itself on a high standard of care for patients and their surrounding family and carers. The team offers three services: the Home Oxygen Service, a Pulmonary Rehabilitation Service and a Specialist Respiratory Service. All three services undertake both clinic and home visits to ensure that all of the population of Redbridge has accessibility to services.  The Pulmonary Rehab Programme offers exercise and education at three locations across Redbridge. All three available services have excellent patient feedback, which makes the members of the team very proud. 

Lead by Specialist Physiotherapist Mangalaram Sadhasivam, the team have and will be undertaking, several educational events this year including World COPD day and MDT teaching. This team is accessible for advice to other health care professionals regarding respiratory conditions. They actively encourage teams to contact them with any queries or if advice is required. 

Case Study:
Peter is a COPD patient/service user and ex-smoker who attended the 8 week Pulmonary rehabilitation course on 1 October 2018.  The course had been recommended to him by his respiratory consultant at Queens Hospital in August 2018.  Here Peter tells us of the positive impact attending the course has had on his health and wellbeing.

"My COPD has been very bad this year. I was a smoker and gave up 3-4 months ago. I have had 3 - 4 hospital visits this year due to breathlessness - the last of which entailed a week-long stay in both King George hospital and Queens hospital. Since I started the rehab course I can see an improvement in my breathlessness and mobility (I walk with sticks due to disk degeneration disease and arthritis in my knees). The exercises have increased my strength and confidence to do things.

The physios are very professional and patient in showing me and the group how to master the exercises and how to breathe correctly whilst doing them. The exercise session lasts an hour which is followed by a structured presentation from the clinicians on various subjects relative to our conditions. These presentations are very informative and I have learnt so much about how to live with my condition.

The sessions are always friendly and relaxed and there is no pressure to push ourselves too hard if anyone is having a bad day. The presentation handouts are easy to follow and are useful reading at home if you have forgotten any information from the session. The group sessions are especially useful as we learn from each other - in particular around how to go about daily living chores more easily. We support and motivate each other which is another bonus. I know that there is no cure for COPD but I realise that if I practice the exercises and everything I have learnt from attending these sessions I can prolong my overall health and avoid hospital admissions. I am so pleased I took the opportunity to attend this course.”

Respiratory lead for the Redbridge respiratory team, Mangalaram Sadhasivam, is very proud of the impact that his team has on participants like Peter who attend courses such as these with a desire to learn about their condition and how to take care of themselves; “The staff in our team work extremely hard and do not hesitate to go beyond their limits to help every patient achieve their goals. Appreciation from service users like Peter will make our team stronger than ever, enabling us to continue to deliver the best care. ”

 
Peter at one of the weekly physio sessions

If you would like to find out more about the Redbridge respiratory service and if, like Peter, you are eligible to take part in one of the Pulmonary rehabilitation courses, please contact us on:

Tel: 0300 300 1826
Email: Redbridgeltc@nelft.nhs.uk

To find out more about Pulmonary rehabilitation please visit: https://www.nelft.nhs.uk/bhr-pulmonary-rehabilitation-services

Redbridge Respiratory Service
Redbridge Diabetes Centre
76 Buntingbridge Road
IG2 7LR

Contacting the team is easy:

• Call the team direct on 0300 300 1826
• Email: RedbridgeLTC@nelft.nhs.uk
• Twitter: @nelft_rb_resp

We are ready and waiting for you!

Referral forms must be sent to the above email, faxed forms are no longer accepted.

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