Our Achievements

Implemented a community-based service for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

The term ‘COPD’ covers Chronic Bronchitis, Emphysema and smoking related lung disease. It is the fifth biggest killer in the UK, responsible for 30,000 deaths a year – and rising.

Smoking related lung disease is particularly common in the North and South East of Sheffield and many people do not realise they have it until it is far advanced.

The main symptoms are coughing up phlegm regularly, increasing shortness of breath and frequent chest infections. Previous research in the city shows that despite suffering from these symptoms many people put them down to age and don’t seek help from their GP. 

The GP Consortium has introduced a community based service to improve local access for patients with COPD so we can get more people who think they might have this condition visiting their doctor. There are many treatments available if the disease is spotted early.

A community clinic has been set up at the Park Health Centre, and each GP practice in the Consortium now has a specialist COPD nurse and we also provide training for staff in every surgery so you can be sure you’ll get the same high level of care wherever you live.

Our practices can provide you with inhalers and medication, but most importantly - help you stop smoking. This one thing makes a huge difference to the progression of the disease and so to your quality of life.

Each surgery can also give you advice on a healthy diet and exercise – both very important in keeping people with COPD healthy for longer – and put you in touch with community projects designed to improve your breathing, general fitness and well-being.

Facts & Figures:

• Around 900,000 people in the UK suffer from COPD, that’s 1.5 per cent of the population. However, this percentage is higher in Sheffield with some practices reporting up to 4 per cent of their patients suffering from the disease.
• Despite the gloomy statistics, much can be done for people with COPD if they go to see their GP

Useful links:

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?ArticleID=540 - more information on COPD
http://gosmokefree.nhs.uk/ - contains detailed information about free NHS support services, and videos from real quitters talking about what worked for them. You can find out about all of the options and make the right choice for you.