Lung patients in North Lincolnshire will be the first to benefit from a virtual rehab service.
The pioneering virtual reality (VR) pulmonary rehabilitation programme will be offered for the first time on the NHS.
NHS North Lincolnshire CCG successfully submitted a bid to fund the programme for people in North Lincolnshire living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) in late 2019.
This month GP practices in North Lincolnshire will be able to offer COPD patients a kit consisting of a virtual reality headset, wearable sensor and mobile data hotspot so that they can partake in pulmonary rehab exercises, led by a digital instructor, from the comfort of their own home.
The immersive app places the wearer in a beachside training routine environment, replacing pulmonary rehabilitation classes that have typically been delivered in hospital outpatient departments by a physiotherapist.
Dr Satpal Shekhawat, Medical Director at NHS North Lincolnshire CCG “I am confident that this will significantly improve quality of life for our COPD patients. Many parts of North Lincolnshire are rural and some are not well-served by public transport, so this programme will really help those who might otherwise struggle to attend a rehabilitation appointment in person.”
“This is an additional service which will add significant capacity to deliver pulmonary rehabilitation for North Lincolnshire residents. We anticipate this will reduce waiting times and ultimately reduce the number of hospital admissions for people living with COPD. I am proud that we are truly bringing healthcare to our patients’ doorsteps.”
This additional service, delivered across the three Primary Care Networks in North Lincolnshire, will provide an additional 501 pulmonary rehabilitation places a year and patients can start treatment within one week of their referral.
Concept Health Technologies developed the solution led by Dr Farhan Amin in 2017. The pilot scheme showed that patient retention rates improved by up to 80 per cent.
