SPVDU Patient Day

get together in Sheffield Hallamshire patients

The Sheffield Pulmonary Vascular Disease Unit Patient Day saw patients, carers and professionals all come together on 12th November.

PH patients who attend the Royal Hallamshire hospital in Sheffield gathered at the Hilton hotel in the city to meet fellow patients and learn from educational talks and workshops.

A talk about what tests tell us about pulmonary hypertension included a look at echocardiography, exercise testing and lung function and CMR. Experts Iain Smith, Andy Swift and Thanos Charalampopoulos presented on these topics, following an overview by the hospital’s Consultant Physician and PH Lead, David Kiely.

“It was great to bring everyone together and learn from shared experiences.”

Jim Lithgow and Alex Rothman discussed research, including why it’s important and what the Sheffield Pulmonary Vascular Disease Unit are doing - plus how research moves from the lab to the clinic. During a buffet lunch, there was the opportunity for patients to visit four separate stations discussing various research studies.

The afternoon session looked at how the Sheffield PH service works together to maintain a centre of excellence, in a talk led by Charlie Elliot.

The day ended with question time, which saw patients put their queries to a panel of experts. The meeting was funded by the hospital charitable trust with support from PHA UK.

Iain Armstrong, Chair of PHA UK and Nurse Consultant at the Hallamshire, helped to host the event.

Iain said: “We realised it had been several years since we last got together in an informal setting, so this support day was well overdue. It was great to bring everyone together and learn from shared experiences, to see how best we can move our service forward over the coming years.” Keep an eye out on future issues of Emphasis for news of upcoming patient events. You can also keep up to date by following PHA UK on Facebook and Twitter. . Here’s what some attendees had to say about the event…

“My wife doesn’t really tell me anything when she gets home, so as her carer, it was great to hear and learn things for myself.”

“We’ve really enjoyed it, thank you to everyone who put this on. As newly diagnosed we’re finding out as much as we can.”

“A great mix of speakers, talking about different subjects… very educational.”

“A really worthwhile event. Very informative and a lovely friendly atmosphere. Thank you!”