To ask the Minister of Health (i) how many people in Northern Ireland have lung disease; and (ii) what percentage of those people who are deemed eligible for pulmonary rehabilitation, are referred for it.

The tabulated information overleaf details the number of people in Northern Ireland admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of a lung disease for the year 2019/20 (Table A).

Data relating to the estimated number of those eligible for pulmonary rehabilitation is currently not available. However HSCB/PHA have provided a response to this aspect of the question. “The majority of patients referred to and attending pulmonary rehabilitation courses have COPD, but patients with other lung diseases like asthma or lung fibrosis also attend in small numbers.

In 2019, HSCTs reported that they referred 85% of COPD patients being discharged from hospital to pulmonary rehabilitation.

GPs can refer patients to HSCT pulmonary rehabilitation programmes, but we have only developed a counting mechanism for this and have no data yet. NICHS also offers pulmonary rehabilitation courses, which are counted separately by NICHS themselves.

Every year about 2,000 COPD patients attend HSCT pulmonary rehabilitation programmes. Not every patient with COPD needs nor wants to attend pulmonary rehabilitation.”

Table A