Oxygen Therapy

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh	Respiratory Consultant	New
	Respiratory Nurse Specialist	Established Diagnosis
Western General Hospital	Respiratory Consultant	New
	Respiratory Nurse Specialist	Established Diagnosis
St John’s Hospital	Respiratory Consultant	New
	Respiratory Nurse Specialist	Established Diagnosis

From October 2012 GPs can no longer prescribe oxygen
All assessments for oxygen therapy must be done at the hospital clinic
In acute medicine only the respiratory consultants and respiratory nurse specialists (RNS) are full designated prescribers
Palliative care and neurology consultants have limited prescribing rights for specific conditions
All children must be assessed at RHCYP
The continuing supply and maintenance of oxygen for patients in the community will be done by Dolby
Clinical follow-up remains the responsibility of the clinical team.

Patients with an established respiratory diagnosis – COPD , interstitial lung disease, bronchiectasis – whose oxygen saturations < 92% at rest
Patients who have oxygen sats< 92% at rest
Patients who desaturate to < 92% on mild exercise
Patients with severe disease who need to fly
Any patient using short-burst oxygen therapy more than 2 hrs per day

Long-term Oxygen Therapy

Long-term oxygen therapy is indicated for patients when the PaO2 is consistently at or below 7.3 kPa, breathing air during a period of clinical stability
Clinical stability is defined as the absence of an exacerbation of COPD / other respiratory disease for the previous four weeks.

Patients with any respiratory diagnosis whose oxygen saturations are normal (>92%)
Patients with terminal illness
Short-burst oxygen therapy who use oxygen less than 2 hrs per day on a short term basis
Patients or anyone in the same house, who are still smoking
Patients who have had an exacerbation in the last month

Refer via SCI-Gateway
Patients must have oxygen saturations levels assessed using an oximeter prior to referral
The result should be recorded in the referral letter