EDITORIAL
Home mechanical ventilation
Risk management of the home ventilator dependent patient
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr A K Simonds
Consultant in Respiratory Medicine, Royal Brompton Hospital, Sydney Street, London, SW3 6NP, UK; a.simonds@rbht.nhs.uk
Who is responsible for minimising risks to patients receiving ventilatory support in the home?
Keywords: home mechanical ventilation; quality control; risk management
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
A headline from The Times newspaper of 14 August 20001—"Power cut kills man on home ventilator"—is likely to strike a chill in the heart of anyone involved in providing home respiratory care. Bearing in mind it is impossible to guarantee complete safety even in the hospital environment, what is the respiratory practitioner’s responsibility towards the individual receiving ventilatory support in the home, and how can these risks be minimised?
The recent Eurovent study2 showed that there are around 21 500 individuals receiving home ventilation in Europe: about one third have neuromuscular conditions, one third parenchymal lung disease (mainly COPD), and the remainder have chest wall disorders (scoliosis, thoracoplasty, obesity hypoventilation syndrome); 13% use tracheostomy ventilation and around 10% are in the paediatric age range. Although the prevalence of home ventilation varies considerably, in nearly all regions there is a rapid growth in those receiving
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