The Community Respiratory Service is a team of respiratory nurse specialists who work closely with primary and secondary care. Our service aims to provide holistic care and support for adults who are diagnosed with a range of chronic lung disease including

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Asthma
• Bronchiectasis
• Interstitial Lung Disease

Patients can be seen in clinic at the Luton Treatment Centre or at their own home if they are housebound.

The service provides:

• Pulmonary rehab
• Long term Oxygen Therapy (LTOT) review and support at home.
• Support, advice and education to enable patients to effectively manage their condition
• Support on managing ‘flare-ups’ of their condition
• Assessment, monitoring and titration drug therapy to optimise treatment
• COPD Patient Group Education ‘CHEST Programme’
• Planning for future needs in accordance to patients wishes and supported by national guidance
• Signposting to other services where needed
• Symptom management

How to access the service:

• Referral from a health professional GP/ Practice Nurse / community clinician / secondary care
• Self-referral will be accepted in some circumstances

Contact Details:

Community Respiratory Team
Tel: 0333 405 3159
Email: ccs-tr.lutonrespiratory@nhs.net

Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Pulmonary rehab is an evidenced based exercise and education programme for people with a lung condition.

Pulmonary rehab has been proven to:

• Improve breathlessness
• Improve exercise tolerance
• Improve general health
• Reduce the frequency of chest infections
• Increase the patients understanding of the respiratory condition
• Improve overall quality of life

Pulmonary rehab is a 7 week programme which includes 2 sessions a week. Each session is 2 hours long and is an hour of exercise and an hour of education.

The course is run at the Luton Treatment Centre, Vestry Close LU11AR. Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

The course is supported by Respiratory Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapist and other health professional. Following the programme patients are encouraged continue exercising with Total Well Being Luton.

Please Note: Following guidance during the Covid pandemic the Community Respiratory Team have not been able to provide the usual face to face rehab service. We are currently running a virtual service, patients are assess and offered either a pre recorded video package or a paper based version depending on their choice. Patients are monitored using a remote monitoring system and supported by the team throughout the programme.

‘CHEST’  - COPD Health Education and Support Training

This is an interactive patient education group held once a month for people to learn more about their COPD and how to best self-manage this. This is held at the Luton Treatment Centre in groups of no more than 10 people.

The course is built around education sessions and group activities to learn more about living and managing COPD. The course is a one day course and is suitable for anyone who has a diagnosis of COPD.