Respiratory Innovation Wales is delivering an important programme providing a Mobile Respiratory Unit to deliver diagnostic services to people across Wales. This has been with support from a range of cross-sector partners, including Life Sciences Hub Wales.
Access to respiratory services has been impacted by Covid-19, with a backlog of people waiting to be seen and assessed for many conditions. Respiratory Innovation Wales has funded and developed this programme to help to address the shortfall within community services and tackle the increased demand and backlog of diagnostics from patients with respiratory issues.
The Mobile Respiratory Unit offers hospital grade self-contained clinical space in accessible locations throughout the two health boards, covering different geographical areas each week and bringing care closer to home for patients.
Respiratory Innovation Wales is funding the project as an investigation into decentralised care to establish mechanisms that support the huge backlogs of patients requiring respiratory diagnostics in the community. The Mobile Respiratory Unit is travelling across locations in Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and Hywel Dda University Health Board.
Life Sciences Hub Wales was asked to contribute project management support to the Respiratory Innovation Wales Team. Respiratory Innovation Wales and Life Sciences Hub Wales worked with health board departments and NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership to ensure the Mobile Respiratory Unit met the standards required for healthcare buildings.
EMS Healthcare has supported by supplying the unit that exceeded these standards for use as well as the operational logistics. Fujitsu has also provided equipment that is looking to go live soon with community based diagnostic chest X-rays to support GP referrals.
AstraZeneca has provided funding to Hywel Dda University Health Board to support community diagnostic testing, which was used as a contribution to Respiratory Innovation Wales from Hywel Dda University Health Board towards the cost of funding the unit.
Masimo, a world leader in patient monitoring equipment, donated valuable kit to the Mobile Respiratory Unit as part of their collaboration with Respiratory Innovation Wales.
FujiFilm are suppling a portable AI enabled X-ray machine that can detect common respiratory lung conditions and report them back to the radiographer at the time of the X-ray.
To learn more about this project, then please contact hello@lshubwales.com
- Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
- Hywel Dda University Health Board
- Respiratory Innovation Wales – project owner and initiator
- Life Sciences Hub Wales
- EMS Healthcare
- Fujitsu
- Fujifilm
- Masimo
- AstraZeneca
9/06/2022
The mobile van is formally launched with partners celebrating its impact using the #BreatheBetterHub hashtag.
26/07/2022
Over 500 patients have now used the respiratory diagnostic services in the mobile unit.
October 2022
Fujifilm suppling portable AI enabled X-ray machine.
02/11/2022
Over 900 patients have now been seen and over 1250 offered an appointment.
The main objectives are to decentralise care and bring it closer to the patient. This helps to provide more efficient services and improve patient diagnostic/treatment pathways.
It will also help develop a deliverable mobile service model set in a primary and community context; that can be rolled out on an All-Wales basis.
Respiratory health remains a real burden to the NHS in Wales, with one in twelve people having a respiratory illness. Providing accessible services more quickly can help to tackle this.
The services this project is providing include spirometry, FeNo diagnostic testing, condition management plan reviews, clinician intervention clinics and non-invasive ventilation clinics.