Respiratory medicine

The service provides specialist information and support to patients in hospital with various respiratory conditions.

Grantham and District Hospital

At Grantham hospital we have a team of respiratory nurse specialists who offer support and advice throughout your time in hospital and beyond.

The service provides specialist information and support to patients in hospital with various respiratory conditions. Patients in hospital are reviewed on a regular basis by a member of the respiratory team and ongoing advice and care is provided. We also provide nurse-led clinics for patients once discharged from hospital, to ensure they receive appropriate ongoing advice and treatment. New patients can also be referred directly from a consultant, GP or practice nurse.

The service also provides assessment and care in hospital and at home for patients with chronic respiratory disease in the form of the respiratory supported discharge scheme. Inpatients are seen regularly and assessed. If it is considered appropriate they are discharged home on the scheme with ongoing support and treatment. This support is provided at home by way of telephone contact and home visits. Patients have direct telephone access to the service when discharged home on the scheme. The hours covered are 9am to 5pm 7 days a week. Once known to the team, if a patient becomes unwell they are able to refer themselves back to us.

Our team is involved with and supports the Grantham breathe easy group which is part of the British Lung Foundation. The group is run locally by respiratory patients and their carers. We attend the monthly meetings and are committee members.

As part of our role we teach other healthcare professionals and students on a regular basis in both primary and secondary care. We are also part of the countywide respiratory group at a strategic level. This group aims to develop respiratory services throughout Lincolnshire and is working towards providing an equable countywide service. This will improve patient care and ensure Grantham is working within national guidelines.

Macmillan lung cancer nursing service at Grantham hospital

The lung cancer nursing service provides specialist information and support to those patients referred to Grantham and District Hospital with a primary lung cancer. The role also provides support and information to those patients who are suspected of having a primary lung cancer, supporting the patient during diagnostic investigations, results and diagnosis, treatments and living with cancer, through to palliative care. The role involves communicating and working closely with the wider multidisciplinary team across primary and secondary care, ensuring lung cancer patients receive the help, support and assistance they require. Ensuring their physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs are addressed.

Support is offered to patients on an inpatient and outpatient basis, either face to face or over the telephone. Home visits are not part of the service.

The service runs on 4 days a week between the hours of 9am and 5pm.

Lincoln County Hospital

The department of respiratory care within Lincoln County Hospital provides inpatient specialist care to all adults with a respiratory diagnosis. The respiratory clinical nurse specialists provide complex expert advice to all disciplines within Lincoln County Hospital in order to ensure optimum care for respiratory patients.

The respiratory clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) are responsible for providing a proactive specialist nursing service within Lincoln County Hospital.

The team offer compassionate, sensitive care where physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs are met. The respiratory CNS is responsible for communicating and coordinating care between primary and secondary care, ensuring patients are well supported throughout their patient journey. This includes timely discharge from the acute hospital and preventing inappropriate readmissions.

The respiratory CNS team act as a source of expertise and knowledge for both patients and health care professionals; with the ability to give in depth explanations, information, advice and support related to all aspects of the patient’s care.

Pilgrim Hospital, Boston

Respiratory nurses at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston provide a variety of services for both inpatients and outpatients. Services include patient support, education, diagnostics and treatment.
The respiratory nursing team take referrals from GPs, hospital doctors, community and secondary care nurses and other health care professionals.

We provide the following services for patients and relatives/carers:

  • Education about the patient’s condition including self-management advice
  • Some respiratory diagnostic tests
  • Management of patients condition and prescription of appropriate medications
  • Review of inhaler technique and device selection as required
  • Review and management of patients with unstable conditions
  • Liaison with community colleagues and referral on where appropriate
  • Assessment of home oxygen needs and prescription where appropriate
  • Working closely with consultant respiratory physician team to optimise patient care
  • Ongoing support via telephone and outpatient clinics
  • Review of inpatients with respiratory conditions

The majority of our referrals are for patients with asthma or COPD. However, we will review any patient who may potentially require home oxygen.

All services are provided at Pilgrim Hospital. However, outpatient clinics are provided at Skegness and Johnson Hospital. Oxygen clinics are only at Pilgrim Hospital because of the equipment needed to undertake the clinic.