Scottish Government invests £330k in our services to help coronavirus effort 17 April 2020 The Scottish Government has announced today that it will be investing £330,000 with Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland to grow our hospital discharge and community services for people with lung conditions – including those affected by coronavirus. The service will complement the NHS community teams by providing one to one support for patients in their homes over the phone and video-conferencing. The funding will ensure our nurses and rehabilitation teams can expand digitally to meet the need for help. The funding will also see 400 of our volunteers equipped to enable them to provide vital one to one support to people to stay well at home. The Hospital to Home initiative As part of the ‘Hospital to Home’ initiative, we will be working shoulder to shoulder with NHS heroes to help tackle coronavirus. This will include helping NHS clinicians support people with lung conditions to make the transition from hospital to home. The initiative will also help reduce NHS pressures by supporting people with long-term conditions like COPD to stay well at home with advice and ways to manage their condition. We currently provide intensive one to one support for stroke survivors. Plus, our networks of 140 peer support groups and nurse-led Advice Line care for people with chest, heart and stroke conditions right across the country. Now, with the help of the funding from the Scottish Government, we will be able to support even more people across Scotland. The Hospital to Home service will help people like Ian Baxter, who is living with lung condition COPD. The innovative digital support model for lung patients has recently become available in NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. We are currently in discussions with other Health Boards and are urging all other Boards to partner with us so this service can roll out nationwide. The service will also be open to calls from the public who may be looking for advice on staying well with a lung condition. If you would like support and advice from our Advice Line nurses, please call Freephone 0808 801 0899. Around 48,000 people per year could be helped through our Hospital to Home discharge and ongoing community support model. Working together to fight coronavirus Jeane Freeman MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, said: “Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland’s work in helping people get back home from hospital and live well is so important and we need their vital work more than ever. “I want to make sure that the whole of Scotland can benefit from this approach and I expect Health Boards to make the most of the opportunities a partnership like this offers.” Coronavirus is the biggest challenge our society has faced in a generation. By working together, we are helping our doctors and nurses, but most importantly helping people live well with a lung condition. We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our NHS heroes in Scotland’s fight against coronavirus. Jane-Claire Judson, Chief Executive at Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, said: “This service will help people with serious lung conditions like COPD or Covid-19 get the support they need with the longer-term effects on their physical and mental health – and help reduce pressures on the NHS by helping them live well at home. “With a strong partnership approach, we believe we could help 48,000 people this year through services like this one. “Together we can make sure that no one in Scotland fights this virus alone.” Supporting the NHS Gourab Choudhury, Respiratory Managed Clinical Network Lead for NHS Lothian said: “During these times of unparalleled challenge to the NHS, I am delighted that a remarkable organisation like CHSS is joining hands with our community respiratory team in Edinburgh to help manage patients with chronic respiratory conditions more optimally in the community setting. “Their presence will boost the service through actions like kindness calls, reinforcement of self-management plan and is a perfect example of integration through Realistic Medicine. “I am hoping this endeavour could be expanded all across Scotland in due course.” David Anderson, Secondary Care Respiratory Lead for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “The scale of the challenge we are facing to care for Covid-19 patients as well as those with other lung conditions is huge. “With the help of the team at Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland we can make sure that people receive quality care, and holistic support for as long as they need it beyond their time in hospital. “By helping people to stay well at home we can also make sure that we reduce the chance of hospital re-admissions which will not only help now, but over the longer term.” For more information about how we’re standing up against coronavirus and helping people across Scotland stay safe and healthy during this time, please visit www.chss.org.uk/coronavirus/.