Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership has introduced a mobile clinic to assess the effects of long Covid using a specially converted Ford Transit.
The NHS in Essex has teamed up with Ford and local community health leaders to identify and assess the effects of long Covid by offering spirometry testing from the converted van.
Spirometry is a diagnostic test for lung conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other respiratory diseases. Patients breathe into the device which measures their lung capacity.
The Transit will house equipment, allowing NHS clinicians and health workers to offer a ‘one-stop-shop-service’ to assist residents in the county that may have mobility issues, language barriers or live in more rural areas of the town.
This follows the pilot launch of the Ford Transit Vax Van, which was designed to help the NHS administer vaccines to minority groups and rural communities. According to the collaboration, it incentivised hundreds of people to take up first-time vaccinations, with feedback from patients praising the “easy” and “convenient” service.
Dr Sharon Hadley, clinical lead at Mid and South Essex Partnership, said: “Building on the success of the Essex Vax Van, we are launching a similar outreach model to help reach under-served groups to make sure they get the right care for breathlessness linked to long Covid.
“Many people are reporting ongoing breathing difficulties. With a decline in spirometry testing during the pandemic, the diagnosis of conditions such as COPD is estimated to have fallen by half in the past year, tens of thousands of people across the country could be living with the serious condition without knowing.
“In the same way that Covid-19 posed a greater threat to certain communities, we need to get out and find those most at risk and make sure people have the knowledge, care and treatment they need to avoid serious life limiting illness.”
The transit was converted by West Yorkshire-based specialist vehicle builders Venari Group to support the NHS. As well as spirometry testing equipment, the Transit also includes medical grade refrigeration with WIFI monitoring capability, vaccine transport coolers, a collapsible chair for administering vaccines, as well as an integrated tablet for accessing and updating health and vaccination records.
The Ford and NHS Essex Transit will take to the roads from early February. The programme will continue to run as a pilot, with scope to increase the number of vehicles and explore further outreach models in the future.
