What are we going to do about it?
- Apply population health management and personalised care approaches to improve health outcomes and address health inequalities.
- Design a new Diagnostic Spirometry service that includes testing patients with suspected COPD and suspected asthma.
- Re-start the County Durham Diagnostic Spirometry Service to assess and test the patients without a confirmed COPD diagnosis waiting for diagnostic spirometry testing.
- Expand the COVID Virtual Ward to support some patients with COPD, asthma and pneumonia.
- Continue to develop and expand the Long COVID service across County Durham and Darlington by recruiting more staff to provide more clinics and group sessions to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of people being referred into the service.
- Further develop the respiratory service across hospital, primary care and community services in order to expand the Virtual Ward initially established for COVID-19 patients.
How will we know that we have made a difference?
We will:
- Provide improved services and outcomes for respiratory disease.
- Help people to 'live well with' Long COVID with self-management.
- Reduce waiting lists of people waiting for a Long COVID clinic appointment.
- Reduce the number of people who are wrongly diagnosed with COPD and asthma.
- Provide an integrated approach to developing and delivering services which involves communities, voluntary organisations and the health and social care system.
- Reduce avoidable hospital admissions and shorten the length of stay.
- Reduce emergency admissions to hospital.
- Reduce the risk of hospital acquired infections for vulnerable patients and improve patient experience if they are cared for in their own home.
More information
Find out more about this subject in the related Objectives, Goals, Initiatives and Metrics (OGIM) document on Durham County Council’s Committee Services website under the Heath and Wellbeing Board meeting agenda item for 24 November 2021.
Your views
We are keen to hear your views on the content of the plan, including our priorities and the measures we have identified to understand if we are making a difference. Please complete the form below, to provide your views and comments, and these will be passed to the person responsible for this chapter.