I am constantly amazed by the determination and positivity of patients with lung disease that I see every day in the NHS. Many of these patients will feel breathless every minute of every day. Doing even the smallest amount of exercise, like walking up a stairs or getting dressed is a huge struggle. 

In order to purchase advanced lung function equipment to better help these patients, I am going to experience being breathless for an entire day by cycling 150 miles across North Hampshire. I will be riding between all the different hospitals and health centres that care for patients with lung disease registered at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust. 

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What will your money be spent on? 

The North Hampshire Medical Fund is a charity set up to raise funds for advanced medical equipment that is outside of the NHS budget. Your donation will go directly into purchasing a variety of diagnostic medical equipment to help us diagnose, monitor and treat patients with lung disease as described at the bottom of this page for North Hampshire Hospitals.

A proportion of your donations will also go to the British Lung Foundation (BLF) who fund research into lung disease and also help with the running costs of patient led groups called Breathe Easy. There are three Breathe Easy groups in North Hampshire (Andover, Winchester and Basingstoke) that benefit from support from the BLF.

Where I am cycling? 

I will be starting at Basingstoke Hospital at 6:30 am then making my way across the (very hilly) North of Hampshire before arriving at Andover War Memorial Hospital where I plan to re-fuel with the help of the Andover Breathe Easy group. I will then head south to Romsey, then Eastleigh, before stopping in Winchester at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital for lunch with the Winchester Breathe Easy group. I will then carry on to Alton and finally finish at Basingstoke Hospital to meet the Basingstoke Breathe Easy group.

How will the medical equipment help patients and how much does it cost?

HemoCue £3,060: During a test called “gas transfer” we measure how well the lungs absorb oxygen. However, this test is affected by how much oxygen the red blood cells can carry. We would like to purchase a HemoCue device for both Basingstoke and Winchester to measure how much oxygen the blood can carry which increases the accuracy of the gas transfer test.

Spirometer £6,908: Spirometry is a test used to diagnose and monitor numerous lung disease which requires a small hand held device called a spirometer. Our current spirometer is not portable and thus we cannot offer a regular inpatient service. The spirometer will also be used to train healthcare professionals across Hampshire to perform spirometry at GP practices.

Ear lobe pulse oximeter £274: Oxygen levels can drop whilst some patients exercise which we investigate by recording oxygen levels with a pulse oximeter. The standard equipment funded by the NHS fits on the fingernail, but we would like to buy a new ear lobe pulse oximeter that is more accurate.