Commissioners get COPD toolkit

A new chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) toolkit for commissioners has been published by the Department of Health.

A series of best practice guidelines are included in the document in an attempt to make healthcare professionals make informed decisions on COPD cases.

Professor Sue Hill and Dr Robert Winter “urged” NHS colleagues to use the guidelines “to make a real difference to the lives of people with COPD”.

The toolkit has been developed to make it easier to commission improved services for people with COPD and to bring together “the clinical, financial and commercial aspects” of commissioning.

It supports the delivery of the Outcomes Strategy for COPD and Asthma and includes advice on spirometry and assessment, pulmonary rehabilitation, managing exacerbations and details on the case for home oxygen assessment and review.

COPD causes around 23,000 deaths in England each year and costs the NHS more than £800m annually.