March 29, 2011 12.15 pm This story is over 156 months old

City hospital opens new respiratory lab

Help breathing: The hospital has got a new ward for for patients with respiratory conditions or needing breath tests.

Lincolnshire County Hospital will now be able to give patients needing breathing tests an improved service, due to a new lab and equipment.

The respiratory function lab cost £90,000 altogether and is used for lung function tests, respiratory exercise studies and sleep apnoea treatment and diagnosis.

The original lab in the hospital had been too small for the demand of respiratory testing. The new lab is bigger, brighter and more comfortable.

The laboratory is also accessible to all, including wheelchair users or bed-bound patients, and has improved privacy for users.

Also, the hospital has appointed a trainee respiratory physiologist to work in the lab.

Clinical Services Manager Becky Shaw said: “We have refurbished a previously disused space within the hospital to create this new laboratory, which offers much more in terms of space and meets the needs of our patients and staff much more closely.

“Not only have we refurbished the area to make a new lab, but we have also purchased and installed new state-of-the-art equipment to ensure that we are able to achieve the highest standards.

“The new lab will enable us to do more respiratory diagnostic testing in future, including supporting home testing for people being treated and tested for sleep apnoea in Lincolnshire.

“We’re really pleased with the new lung function lab, we think patients will see a huge difference in the timeliness of and the quality of care that we can provide in this new facility.”

Source: ULHT