Specialty COPD care activities included in consensus-building process
| Type of care | Care activity description |
| Routine | Collecting information about a patient’s COPD and overall health status by asking questions (eg, assessing symptoms, understanding recent hospital admissions and assessing needs for various services) |
| Performing a lung function test (breathing in to a spirometer) | |
| Measuring oxygen levels using a finger probe (pulse oximetry) | |
| Assessing how far a patient can walk by doing a walking test (performing an exercise test) | |
| Checking inhalers are used properly | |
| Providing education about COPD or COPD treatment and developing a self-management plan | |
| Supporting a patient to stop smoking (smoking cessation support) | |
| Starting a patient on a new medication | |
| Providing an exercise and education programme (pulmonary rehabilitation) | |
| Having a healthcare professional teach how best to clear sputum/phlegm (airway clearance support) | |
| Having a healthcare professional teach new breathing techniques (breathing training) | |
| Helping a patient make plans around death and dying (advance care planning) | |
| Urgent/unplanned | Making a decision on whether a patient needs to see a healthcare professional face-to-face |
| Helping a patient make a decision on whether to use extra treatment, often called a 'rescue pack' |
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.