10 July 2009

People with chronic breathing problems are to be asked to contribute to a special website which will be giving help, support and advice to those who suffer from the debilitating and even life-threatening condition.

Members of the Ipswich Breathe Easy Group will be asked for their ideas and suggestions at their annual general meeting next Tuesday (14 July) by Nurse Consultant Linda Pearce.

Linda, who is clinical lead for the Suffolk-wide Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Services will be telling the meeting about the services that are being provided to people in their homes and in hospitals. The West Suffolk Hospital Trust runs the COPD services across the east and west of Suffolk.

A new element will be to establish a bespoke website to give people information relevant to their condition, including lifestyle choices, health advice and links to other organisations, such as the British Lung Foundation, who specialise in supporting people with breathing disorders.

"By staying in touch with people through these types of groups we are better able to understand what the needs are and our aim is to have services that are responsive to need. I hope that members of the Ipswich Breathe Easy Group will want to play an active part in shaping the contents of the website so that people across the county can benefit from it," said Linda.

The new service has 10 nurses together with other support workers, providing help for people with COPD in hospital and in their own homes. The team will be a base at the Ipswich and West Suffolk Hospitals and services will be available seven days a week.

"Our focus is to help people to manage their condition so that they can lead as normal a life as possible" said Linda Pearce.

The Ipswich Breathe Easy Group is holding its annual meeting at St Clements Hospital in Foxhall Road, Ipswich at 2.00pm on Tuesday 14 July.