NHS DGS CCG Pulmonary Rehabilitation Service

The commissioner for this service is NHS Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCG. The Commissioner is supported in this project by NHS South East CSU (the CSU) and its procurement partner NHS Commercial Solutions (NHSCS), which is managing this procurement.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the name for a collection of lung diseases including Chronic Bronchitis, Emphysema and Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease. NICE clinical guideline 101 states that pulmonary rehabilitation should be offered to all patients who consider themselves functionally disabled by COPD (usually MRC grade 3 and above). This includes those who have had a recent hospitalisation for an acute exacerbation. Pulmonary rehabilitation is not suitable for those who are unable to walk, have unstable angina or who have had a recent myocardial infarction.

The provider must tailor the Pulmonary Rehabilitation programme to individual needs, and include physical training, disease education, and nutritional, psychological and behavioural intervention. Pulmonary rehabilitation sessions must be held at a practical time in a conveniently located, accessible building to increase concordance. Service providers must ensure multidisciplinary pulmonary rehabilitation programmes are timely and accessible, and that health outcomes are monitored to ensure their effectiveness. The Service will be patient-centred and integrated with other elements of care for patients with COPD.

The provider must engage with GPs and stakeholders to ensure awareness of the service, recruit programme participants and ensure appropriate referrals. In addition, the provider will also need to engage with such stakeholders to signpost patients to appropriate health and social care services on completion of the programme to ensure continuation of care. The successful provider will be required to sign the relevant national NHS contract for the service, accepting all terms and conditions.

The successful provider(s) will be required to sign the relevant national NHS contract for the service, accepting all terms and conditions.

Additional information: Details on how to apply are in the attached document which you can download.