'Breathing Point' lung health website launched

A new website has been launched that will offer people living with a lung condition advice, education and guidance to manage their illness.

Breathing Point is aimed at supporting people in Cheshire and Merseyside and has been developed by the Innovation Agency, North West Coast Clinical Networks, and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. To ensure the website is both accurate and relevant, it has been created in partnership with respiratory healthcare professionals, patients affected by lung conditions, and carers.

Breathing Point features a wide range of accessible information about lung conditions, such as asthma, bronchiectasis, COPD, COVID-19, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis, sleep apnoea, and tuberculosis. A key advantage of the Breathing Point website is its local service finder, which enables people to easily discover which activities, support groups and healthcare facilities are available in their community.

Samantha Hayes, Consultant Physiotherapist at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital said: “Respiratory disease affects 1 in 5 people in England and is the third biggest cause of death. In the North-West, we have one of the highest numbers of people living and diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) each year.” Samantha who is also Clinical Lead for Pulmonary Rehabilitation at Cheshire and Merseyside Respiratory Network added: “Good respiratory health is vital to having a healthy population and Breathing Point will support better lung health across the region.”

The new website will also help GP’s and healthcare professionals by bringing together a wide range of resources, making it easier to signpost patients to additional information about their condition. Several leading respiratory specialists from the North-West feature in videos that offer clear and simple advice in matters such as managing infections and flare-ups, advanced care and planning, and relaxation techniques.      

Breathing Point offers the opportunity for those interested in lung health, the treatment of lung conditions, and new advances in technology and medicine, to come together and connect via a Community Hub. Respiratory healthcare specialists will answer questions and monitor shared experiences, so that patients and users can be confident that information in the site’s chat is valid. 

John Black, a respiratory patient from Sefton who was part of the team that developed the new website said: “Breathing Point is a useful website for anyone, who like me, has a lung condition.  There’s lots of information about treatments, interventions and living well, and there’s the opportunity through the community hub to submit questions to respiratory specialists – which is brilliant!” 

As part of a wider move to what The Kings Fund called ‘shared responsibility for health’, support for people to manage their own health is being promoted through respiratory education. Breathing Point is the latest addition to the initiative and the website will help people living with a lung condition, as well as their families, friends and carers, to better understand and manage their lung health.

Find out more at: www.BreathingPoint.co.uk.