The HMViP (Home Mechanical Ventilation in Partnership) Group is celebrating the first ever World HMV (Home Mechanical Ventilation) Day on 20 May 2023. The group aims to raise awareness, share knowledge and improve education amongst clinicians and HMV users to help them continue to support and represent patients, their families and carers.
World HMV Day and the HMViP website are dedicated to the memory of Ronnie Ward, who was a participant in the HOT-HMV trial[1]. Ronnie, a former naval serviceman, was diagnosed with COPD in 2014. Using HMV reduced his risk of being hospitalised and enabled him to enjoy several additional years at home in Sussex with his family.
HMV can benefit patients with conditions that damage the lungs, such as COPD and those that restrict the movement of air in and out of the body, including obesity, curvature of the spine (also known as Kyphoscoliosis), and neuromuscular conditions such as Motor Neurone Disease and Duchene Muscular Dystrophy. The HMViP Group is encouraging patients with these conditions to visit the HMViP website to find out more about HMV, how it works, and the benefits others have experienced as a result of their treatment.
HMViP is calling on NHS Trusts to consider improving HMV access for patients with chronic respiratory failure, given that it is a cost-effective intervention that can reduce hospitalisation risk and improve symptoms and quality of life in certain patient groups[2]. UK and international guidance now recommend that HMV be offered to appropriate patients with COPD.[3]
Alison Armstrong, Chair of the HMViP Group and Nurse Consultant in the North-East Assisted Ventilation Service, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust comments:
“We want those patients who would benefit from using HMV to be aware of the advantages of this treatment, including maintaining their independence and improving their quality of life. These patients, their families and carers deal with the impact of their underlying conditions on a daily basis; we want to celebrate them and represent their needs on World HMV day. We want to do this by sharing our common interest in HMV with as wide an audience as possible.
The HMViP Group is made up of a multi-disciplinary team, representing HMV centres across the UK, with a wealth of knowledge and practical experience in this field. It includes respiratory consultants, clinical nurse specialists, clinical academics, specialist respiratory physiotherapists, as well as patients and carers.
To watch or read a patient’s experience of using HMV go to Ian's and Rachael's story
[1] https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/52/suppl_62/PA1679
[2] https://thorax.bmj.com/content/78/5/523 Murphy et al, Cost-effectiveness of home non-invasive ventilation in patients with persistent hypercapnia after an acute exacerbation of COPD in the UK