New nurse guidelines launched for COPD

Main Category: COPD
Article Date: 30 Nov 2004 - 12:00 PDT

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Primary care nurses can take on a key role managing one of the UK's fastest growing killers1 - New guidelines on the role primary care nurses can play in COPD, based on the recommendations of leading UK experts on the condition, have been launched today. The guidelines should help practices manage their resources to hit COPD targets in the new GMS contract.

The new recommendations build on the NICE guidelines for COPD published earlier this year by highlighting the responsibilities that primary care nurses can take on, including management of patient reviews, spirometry and ensuring uptake of the flu jab. These guidelines have been developed in cooperation with GlaxoSmithKline.

COPD, which is one of the country's fastest growing killers,1 is a progressive condition involving inflammation in the lungs, which leads to breathlessness and exacerbations (chest infections). Exacerbations have a major impact on patients' quality of life and increase the risk of disease progression and mortality. However, growing evidence suggests that careful management of COPD can reduce the risk of exacerbations and therefore make a real difference for patients' lives.

"COPD exacerbations are not a trivial matter as patients are more likely to survive a heart attack than an acute exacerbation. COPD is also the major cause of winter bed pressures as it is the only common disease, which has a huge seasonal variation in hospitalisations and mortality," commented Dr Tony Crockett, GPIAG member and GP based in Shrivenham. "COPD care is at the same stage as asthma care 20 years ago; we need to move from reactive, nihilistic care where patients and clinicians have low expectations to a system of improved, realistic expectations with much of this care being nurse-led."

COPD is a day to day challenge for the primary care team, accounting for around 1.5 million primary care consultations each year (2-3 consultations annually for a typical patient).2,3 The estimated cost of COPD to the NHS is �817 million every year,3 with hospitalisation due to exacerbations causing the biggest financial and patient health burden.

"COPD kills 30,000 people every year and is the only major cause of death currently increasing in the UK," said Judith Smith, Respiratory Nurse Consultant, East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust and one of the contributors to the guidelines. "Patients with severe COPD lead extremely restricted lives as they are often too breathless and too frightened to leave the house. Better management really makes a difference to people's lives and will be a fulfilling role for many primary care nurses. Many hospitalisations could be avoided if exacerbations were prevented or reduced in severity."

"Primary care nurses are playing an increasingly important role in the diagnosis and management of COPD", commented Dr David Bellamy, GPIAG member and Bournemouth-based GP. "Their more holistic approach to care is ideally suited to the recommendations in the NICE Guidelines by helping to optimise therapy and teach patients in self-management action plans."

To obtain a copy of the guidelines, please contact the GSK Customer Care Team on 0800 221 441.

For further information, please contact:

Katie Banks
Ketchum
020 7611 3619
katie.banks@ketchum.com

Gareth Field
Ketchum

020 7611 3668 gareth.field@ketchum.com

Notes to editors:

---- COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

---- COPD is the fourth biggest killer in Europe1

---- There are an estimated 2.5 million sufferers in the UK4, although only an estimated 900,000 are correctly diagnosed5



---- An estimated 100,000 hospital admissions were recorded for COPD in England in the year 2000, equating to around 1 million bed days3 ---- The new guidelines for primary care nurses have been developed in cooperation with GlaxoSmithKline and based on recommendations by COPD expert contributors:

-- Rachel Brooker, National Respiratory Training Centre

-- Chris Fehrenbach, Senior Respiratory Nurse, Portsmouth

-- David Lynes, Respiratory Educational Training Centre, Liverpool

-- Ruth Oliver-Williams, Assistant Director of Nursing, Heatherwood and Wexham Hospitals

-- June Roberts, Nurse Practitioner, Manchester

-- Jane Scullion, Respiratory Nurse Consultant, Leicester

-- Judith Smith, East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust

-- Gail South, Respiratory Care Nurse Consultant, Chesterfield

-- Robert M Angus, Consultant Respiratory Physician, Liverpool

References:

1. Murray CJL, Lopez AD. Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause 1990-2020: Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet 1997; 349:1498-1504

2. Royal College of General Practitioners, Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Department of Health. Morbidity statistics from general practice. Third National Study, 1991 - 1992. London: HMSO, 1995

3. National Respiratory Training Centre. Impact of Respiratory Conditions: a guide for Primary Care Organisations. Warwick: NRTC (2002)

4. Siafakos NM, Vermeire P, Pride NB et al. ERS-Consensus statement. Optimal assessment of and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Eur Respir Rev 1995; 8:1398-1420

5. NICE guidelines 2004

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