Workshop at QA Hospital gives tips on managing lung conditions

PEOPLE living with breathing problems were able to learn more about the services available to help them.
Anna Walker, physiotherapy lead at Queen Alexandra Hospital, gives Sylvia Downs, 62, from Paulsgrove advice on exercises Picture: Malcolm Wells (170619-0657)Anna Walker, physiotherapy lead at Queen Alexandra Hospital, gives Sylvia Downs, 62, from Paulsgrove advice on exercises Picture: Malcolm Wells (170619-0657)
Anna Walker, physiotherapy lead at Queen Alexandra Hospital, gives Sylvia Downs, 62, from Paulsgrove advice on exercises Picture: Malcolm Wells (170619-0657)

Solent NHS Trust ran a workshop at Queen Alexandra Hospital as part of Pulmonary Rehabilitation Week, which runs until Sunday.

Throughout the day exercise sessions were held in the main entrance of the Cosham hospital to show the different ways patients can manage their conditions.

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Solent provides pulmonary rehabilitation for patients in Portsmouth suffering with a long-term lung condition and it was these sessions which were on show.

Sylvia Downs has been attending the exercise classes, normally held at Cosham Health Centre for the past 10 weeks.

The Paulsgrove 
resident has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

She said: ‘Since being referred, my breathing has improved a lot.

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‘The exercises have been really helping and now I can breathe through my nose a lot more easily.

‘We do lots of different things and it is brilliant.’

As well as having exercise classes during the day, the workshop had a stall giving advice about lung conditions and how people can cope with them.

Solent teamed up with the Portsmouth branch of Breathe Easy to put on the event with some of its members volunteering to show the exercises.

Anna Walker, the trust’s pulmonary rehabilitation team lead, said: ‘We are trying to highlight to people the rehabilitation services available in the area.

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‘We have been demonstrating the exercises to show they aren’t too strenuous and to give people the chance to meet patients who do the classes and the benefits it has.

‘By doing the exercises we are helping the rest of the body get stronger which improves their breathing.

‘It does have a big improvement on their breathing and the patients do benefit from taking part.’

People with long-term lung conditions are referred by their GP or practice nurse to the Solent team.