Respiratory Services

The Respiratory Service covers a diverse range of disorders and diseases of the lungs and respiratory tract.  There are nine respiratory consultants working within the trust each with specialist interests in various aspects of respiratory care.

In-patient care is provided primarily in wards A3 and A4 in Antrim Area Hospital and Medical 1 and 2 in Causeway Hospital. Alongside the medical teams, Respiratory Nurse specialists work across all hospitals providing specialist support and advice to their ward colleagues. Respiratory physiotherapy teams provide assessment and treatment of respiratory patients on all wards as needed.

A range of diagnostic respiratory investigations are provided across the Trust.

Specialist Outpatient clinics include:

• Bronchiectasis
• Interstitial lung Disease
• Lung cancer clinics
• COPD and Asthma
• Home oxygen assessment and review clinics
• Sleep clinics

Respiratory (Thoracic) clinics will be either consultant or nurse/physiotherapy led clinics; these are usually located in hospital outpatient departments, Antrim Area Hospital, Causeway Hospital, Braid Valley Hospital/Ballymena Health and Care Centre, Whiteabbey Hospital and Mid Ulster Hospital Magherafelt.

A Specialist Respiratory Team provides advice, education and practical support to patients in hospital and in the community or those requiring specialist care.

Community Respiratory Team

The Community Respiratory Team provides care and support to patients in a community setting who have a diagnosis of COPD, Bronchiectasis or Interstitial Lung Disease.

The aim and vision is to provide safe and evidence based care to all individuals with respiratory illness through collective culture, collective leadership, integrated and innovative working. To make a positive difference to the lives of all individuals with respiratory illness through integrated MDT working, by applying specialist care, support and education.

There are four teams located across the Northern Trust and they work closely with secondary and primary care to ensure the patient receives the right care at the right time by the right health care professional. The team consists of specialist nurses, physiotherapists and support workers.

Community management includes:

• Appointments in both clinics and home visits
• Medication Management- This includes inhaler and nebuliser therapy reviews, inhaled drug challenges, oxygen prescribing, exacerbation management with antibiotics/steroids as appropriate by multi-disciplinary team prescribers and GPs
• Chronic Disease management
• Exacerbation management
• Oxygen Assessment and review
• Non-invasive ventilation management
• Airway clearance
• Breathlessness management
• Respiratory palliative care
• Promoting expert self-management plan
• Pulmonary Rehabilitation