Update: Service that warns lung patients about cold snaps proves its worth
A Met Office service that warns COPD patients that cold weather is on the way has won the backing of the British Lung Foundation - and proved that it does reduce hospital admissions. Lyn Whitfield reports.
The British Lung Foundation has backed an award winning project to provide weather alerts for people suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
The Foundation says it supports the Met Office Healthy Outlook service because “it enables users to avoid being out during cold snaps, which could harm their health.”
The Met Office developed the service with Finnish healthcare specialist Medixine. It used Microsoft technology as the platform on which to build the service, which sends automated telephone calls to patients with COPD when the Met Office predicts that a cold spell is on the way.
Reducing hospital admissions
Last winter, four alert calls were made and the Met Office says these were effective in keeping people out of hospital.
The latest evaluation suggests that hospital admissions for COPD fell by 24 per cent in practices using the service, in comparison with winter 2006. Emergency admissions for COPD fell by only 3 per cent across the NHS as a whole.
A Met Office survey of 3,000 patients signed up for the service found 37 per cent had contacted their GP to get a repeat prescription after receiving an alert call and 11 per cent had contacted them to report worsening symptoms.
The survey also found that patients appreciated the service, with 68 per cent saying they found the calls useful and 62 per cent saying they felt reassured.
“[Patients] can get their shopping in or contact their GP for a prescription, so they are not exposed to the low temperatures.”
Making the call
The service costs £18 per patient plus set up costs. GPs provide the names and addresses of patients to be contacted. The patients receive an information pack and automated calls between October and March.
The calls ask them to respond to simple questions about their health and whether they need repeat prescriptions. The answers are fed back to GP practices so staff can follow up patients who need medication or run the risk of being admitted to hospital.
The service was launched at just a handful of GP practices in Cornwall, but has now enrolled more than 8,500 patients in 160 practices across the UK.
COPD is a progressive lung disease that affects around 1 million people in the UK. It causes breathlessness, and cold snaps make this worse by narrowing the airways. Cold snaps also trigger an increase in chest infections, which pose a particular risk for people with COPD.
Walter Elliott, head of the Met Office forecasting team, said: “The system warns patients there is a cold snap coming, so they can get their shopping in or contact their GP for a prescription, so they are not exposed to the low temperatures.”
Technology supports policy
The service is a good example of how technology can be used to help people with long-term conditions look after their own health and stay out of hospital – a key objective of Lord Darzi’s recent report on the future of the NHS, High Quality Care for All.
It is also a good example of how the innovative use of technology can support world class commissioning and deliver business benefits for primary care trusts.