Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis among healthcare professionals.
Information for both health professionals and patients about idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is available on the National institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) website at the following link:
www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/Conditions-and-diseases/Respiratory-conditions/Pulmonary-fibrosis
A guideline for IPF and a NICE Technology Appraisal for Pirfenidone as a treatment for IPF are available and an IPF Quality Standard is currently in development.
The British Lung Foundation also offers advice which can be found at:
www.blf.org.uk/Search?query=idiopathic+pulmonary+fibrosis
Patient and public voice members are represented on the Specialised Respiratory Clinical Reference Group. Details can be found at:
www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-a/a14/
The NHS standard contract for interstitial lung disease makes reference to the additional roles that specialist centres providing care have in relation to patient education and patient support groups.
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/a14-respiratory-inters-lung.pdf