Danielle proudly holds her awarded cheque alongside David Chapman, Manager of the Respiratory Investigation Unit/Respiratory Scientist, at the 2024 Innovation Pitch Program, with Chief Executive Anthony Schembri RNSH Revamps Functional Breathing Disorder Care Diagnosing functional breathing disorders will be far easier thanks to a new pathway being developed at Royal North Shore Hospital. As part of the Innovation Pitch Program, RNSH clinical specialist speech pathologist Danielle Stone and the RNSH respiratory medicine team put forward an idea for funding that would see more functional breathing disorders diagnosed and treated. Danielle’s pitch ‘Take my Breath(lessness) Away!’ wowed the judges and the project received $86,000 worth of funding to get underway as part of the district’s innovation efforts. The pathway, which will be known as the RNSH Functional Breathing Disorder Diagnostic Service, will improve quality of life for patients with breathing disorders by reducing delays in diagnosis, implementing individualised assessment and treatment and reducing unnecessary medication use. Development of the pathway will then involve a series of steps with the end goal of having a multidisciplinary team including speech pathology, physiotherapy, and respiratory medicine formed to assess functional breathing disorders on an ongoing basis. Danielle said the pathway will lead to improved outcomes for patients and the wider health service. “The pathway will enhance patients’ quality of life by shortening diagnosis times, offering personalised assessments and treatments, and reducing unnecessary medication use through earlier access to the right services,” she said. “We anticipate improved health service outcomes, with fewer emergency department presentations, respiratory ward admissions, and a reduction in repeat outpatient clinic visits. “Staff experience in the emergency department will also benefit from a better understanding of functional breathing presentations, along with access to more suitable diagnostic pathways, helping reduce the burden on respiratory consult time and outpatient clinics.” Danielle and her team have already made some inroads to the project in a short period of time. The team has attained ethics approval to research innovative ways to assess functional breathing disorders and have started recruiting control participants to compare findings to disordered groups. Custom moulded headgear equipment has also been developed in collaboration with students from the University of Technology Sydney which will be used to test patients who may have exercise induced vocal cord dysfunction. Danielle thanked the Innovation Pitch Program judges and the wider district for programs that enable staff to implement innovative projects to improve health outcomes. “It’s a privilege to be named a winner in such a fantastic program with many worthy submissions,” she said. “I’d like to thank the judges, the Chief Executive and the Board for their support in providing opportunities to innovate.”
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