A COPD audit from the Royal College of Physicians shows that some hospitals are not meeting national service standards for patients with COPD.

The report’s authors recommend that COPD patients admitted with an exacerbation should be cared for by respiratory specialists on a respiratory ward, 7 days a week, and that post-discharge pulmonary rehabilitation services should be available within 4 weeks of referral. They say all hospitals/units should make spirometry results accessible from every computer desktop, and there should be a data-sharing agreement between primary and secondary care that allows general practice spirometry data to be made universally available. They also call for all hospitals/units to have a fully-funded and resourced smoking cessation programme delivered by dedicated practitioners.

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