Patient perspectives on outgoing COPD specialist function at the hospital

<bold>Background:</bold> Approximately 24,000 patients are admitted with COPD as a primary or secondary diagnosis in Danish hospitals per year. They are often admitted to departments other than those specialized in pulmonary medicine. In 2023, a proactive outgoing COPD specialist team was established as a development project. The purpose was to ensure consistent and optimal treatment of hospitalized patients with COPD. This included, for example, a focus on medication compliance, early identification of COPD and exacerbations. <bold>Objective:</bold> An analysis of patient experience and perspective on supervision by a COPD specialist in order to gain insight into the experience of opportunities and limitations regarding the management of COPD during hospitalization. Method A qualitative research approach were used involving semi-structured telephone interviews with 16 patients, who had received supervision from a COPD specialist during hospitalization. <bold>Results:</bold> Interviews showed that patients admitted to departments without pulmonary medicine experience felt that their inhalation medication was not given the same priority as other medical treatment. Often, it was left to the patient for self-administration and no healthprofessionals documented or supervised the inhalations. The patients described a need for support to maintain medical treatment for COPD. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> The study showed that when admitted to departments without pulmonary medicine experience, patients experienced that their inhalation medication was not valued as highly as other medical treatment. Patients felt that they had no opportunity to get help to manage their COPD during hospitalisation and considered the outgoing COPD specialist function as a quality improvement.