NHS Trust pioneers wristband for respiratory failure patients

A health Trust in Kent is pioneering a wristband for patients with breathing problems.

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) is trialling the wristbands with patients at risk of type two respiratory failure. The project involves patients being given a coloured wristband, which tells health professionals how much oxygen they need, should they become unwell.

The wristbands correspond with those being used in hospitals, enabling ambulance and A&E staff to initiate the appropriate level of oxygen for the patient.

Robin Levett, 79, from Ashford, is one KCHFT patient who has an oxygen wristband. Three years ago, he was taken to hospital by ambulance from his home after a cough developed into an infection, leaving him fighting for breath and with type two respiratory failure. He has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) – with his condition being managed through regular oxygen treatment. He can be hooked up to the machine at his home in Ashford, for 15 hours a day. But it doesn’t get him down.

He said: “Oxygen has given me my life, it’s saved my life.”

From Robin and his wife Sue’s point of view, what has helped even more is the oxygen wristband he now wears. It means less worry if he goes into hospital as medical teams will give him the level of oxygen he needs.

The oxygen wristbands pilot is a quality improvement project at KCHFT, where the Trust is looking at what it does and how it can do things better. There are more than 120 projects under way.

KCHFT’s east Kent professional lead Sheilagh McCrossan said: “The results so far are very promising and do seem to indicate that the project has reduced admissions to hospital with type two respiratory failure, and is reducing the length of stay for patients being admitted with a flare up of their COPD.”

The pilot began in November 2018. Following an assessment, patients are issued with a coloured wristband indicating target oxygen saturations appropriate for them when they are unwell.

For Robin it has made a significant difference as it has given him a better quality of life than he may have experienced. The wristband proved its worth when Robin was admitted to hospital again in the autumn for a few days.

He said: “The teams saw the wristband and knew my target oxygen levels; it was really helpful because too much can be dangerous.

“The wristband is always on and so I know that wherever I am, the medical people will know what oxygen to give me – I’d be unlikely to be able to tell them if I’m breathless.”

Much of the support given to patients in east Kent from the respiratory team is focused around supporting self-management and enabling patients to have a better understanding of their health and wellbeing.

Respiratory Nurse Merlyn D’Cruz said: “Robin first came to us after he was admitted to William Harvey Hospital. He was diagnosed with COPD about nine years ago. We have worked with him through self-education and self-management.

“I think what happened was a shock to him as he had not been unwell, but he has coped very well. We taught him what oxygen does and how he can monitor his symptoms, so he can try to prevent further hospital admissions. The wristband is helping with that too.”