The Weathermongers

The high Welsh hills in the Cynon area are now extremely pretty, but a few decades ago they would have looked positively apocalyptic.  Mines and heavy industry filled the valleys and the resulting chemical smog left whole towns choking and blackened.

Above the towns, forests gradually burned up where they stood in the chemical smog.  Today, new saplings are repairing the landscape.  Meanwhile, Rhondda Cynon Taff Health Board are doing what they can for the damaged lungs of many of the older people in the area.

The collection of diseases which affect breathing are referred to as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).  One man describes his symptoms as 'like trying to breath while drinking a glass of water at the same time'.  Though there is no cure, medication can ease symptoms and keep people active.  But another important factor in COPD is the weather.  A complex mix of cold temperatures, virus levels, humidity and pollen count can cause breathing difficulties and lead to hospital admissions.

When the local health board heard of an innovative idea in Cornwall to use the Meterological Office to help ameliorate COPD, they were eager to pilot it.  The service works through a simple computer system.  First, the Met Office tracks the weather and warns GP surgeries if it is about to turn cool and humid.  GPs then trigger an automated phone call to patients with COPD who have signed up for the service. 

The phone call asks whether patients have enough medication and if their symptoms are currently under control.  If the answer to either is 'no' the surgery will then arrange an appointment for the patient to come in and be seen by a doctor.

The results of the pilot have been remarkable.  Though all practices in the area saw a decline in hospital admissions for COPD over the past 2 years, the decrease is roughly 40 percentage points greater for practices who run the 'weather service'.

Rhondda Cynon Taff health board are so pleased with the results that they are now rolling it out to 25 practices across the region.  890 patients have signed up.  

One user says 'I think I got my condition from a mixture of childhood whooping cough, passive smoking and living in a succession of smoggy areas - then there was the factory down the road here for years.  The service is a good reminder and stops me from getting laid up'.