18 December 2017

The group were delighted to welcome Ashley Green, Head of Service Development at the British Lung Foundation (BLF), who brought the group up to date with the various campaigns and initiatives the BLF have been involved in over the past year. Specifically the ‘Battle for Breath‘ campaign and the recent ‘A map for better care‘ report, which was launched during IPF week in October and presented to Parliament in November. The main take aways from the report were as follows:

• A call to Government to establish a Respiratory Task Force to address the underfunding and lack of awareness, among HCP and relevant institutions and organisation, of the different types of respiratory conditions, many of which are progressive and have no cure at the present time.
• To address the inconsistencies in care across the UK
• To provide quicker diagnosis and improved access to the available treatments
• To establish more support groups, nationwide, and ensure all patients have access to either breath easy groups and/or Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR), which are customised to the needs of ILD patients.

As this was the final meeting of 2017 it wouldn’t be right to let the evening go by without getting into a bit of festive spirit! The mulled wine, mince pies and other home made goodies ensured a very happy conclusion to the meeting. Fair to say that the Christmas Jumper competition was jointly won by ……… Iain and Keith. I couldn’t possible describe them, you had to be there!

Until the next meeting, take care and have a lovely festive holiday!