Clinicians involved in the treatment and care of people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) are being invited to get involved in a new roll out of the English National Opera’s Breathe programme.

As part of the Greater Manchester Creative Health portfolio, an adaption of the programme is being piloted to support people with asthma and COPD.

Previously, the initiative has helped almost 3,500 people across the country recovering from the symptoms of long Covid.

The online programme combines musical and medical expertise, and offers self-management tools for patients experiencing breathlessness and associated anxiety. 

Sessions are led by professional singing specialists. In a series of six online one-hour sessions participants learn breathing and singing exercises.

Participants are equipped with a suite of online digital resources (videos and audio tracks of exercises and music) and can practise the techniques in their own time to support their progress.

Beyond the six-week programme, participants have access to weekly online drop-in sessions which provide the opportunity to exercise as a group and reconnect with the community. 

Clinicians wanting to find out more, or to work with the programme, can contact Gaynah Butler or Tanja Pagnuco.

Health professionals are invited to attend a webinar to help them manage the diagnosis and care of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and hypertension.

The Network is holding the online education and training webinar on Tuesday, May 27, 12 noon to 1.30pm. 

While this session is tailored for allied health professionals and non-medical prescribers, it is open to all healthcare professionals across Greater Manchester.

Expert speakers will include Dr Aseem Mishra (pictured right), the Network’s clinical lead, and Dr Philip Lewis, consultant cardiologist. 

Topics covered will include signs and symptoms, tools, resources and case studies. 

To receive the joining link, please email Kiley Haberman-Pool. 

Marking World Asthma Day

The Network will be supporting World Asthma Day 2025 on May 6

The team is planning to support the campaign on social media, with contributions from clinicians in Greater Manchester. 

The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) has chosen the theme ‘Make inhaled treatments accessible for all’ for this year’s campaign.

GINA emphasises the need to ensure that people with asthma can access inhaled medications that are essential both for controlling the underlying disease and treating attacks.

Asthma attacks cause great distress for sufferers and their carers, and these attacks may result in hospital admission and, in some cases, death. Inhaled corticosteroid-containing medications prevent asthma attacks by treating the underlying inflammation.

Doctors and allied health care professionals are called upon to ensure that every person with asthma is prescribed evidence-based, essential, inhaled corticosteroid-containing medication in addition to (or in combination with) reliever medication.

Raising awareness of type 1 diabetes

The Network is highlighting the 4Ts campaign, which aims to raise awareness of type 1 diabetes.

If left undiagnosed, it can become very serious, but knowing the signs can avoid a medical emergency and save lives.

Health professionals can use the campaign’s posters, which underline the symptoms to look out for.

Here are the common signs of type 1 diabetes in both adults and children, and they are really easy to remember:

• Toilet – going for a wee more often
• Thirsty – non-stop thirst and drinking more than usual
• Tired – feeling more tired and having less energy than usual 
• Thinner – unexplained weight loss. 

Order or download your posters and help to raise awareness of the 4Ts of type 1 diabetes.

This presentation from the Children and Young People’s National Diabetes Network also gives information about diagnosing type 1 diabetes.

You are welcome to copy sections of this work to include in your own presentations, but please do not edit the slide deck.

Spotlight on midwives around the world

Next month sees the International Day of the Midwife, celebrating and raising awareness of the profession.

The occasion is marked on May 5 every year and observed by more than 50 countries around the world.

This year, the International Confederation of Midwives has chosen the theme ‘Midwives: critical in every crisis’.

They are highlighting the essential role midwives play in crisis preparedness planning and response, advocating for them to be included in every step of this work.

The Royal College of Midwives also says it is an occasion for every midwife to think about the many others in the profession, to make new contacts within and outside midwifery, and to widen the knowledge of what their profession does for the world.

The Network will be highlighting the campaign and the great work of midwives in Greater Manchester on social media.

Read more about the International Day of the Midwife.

Campaign highlights shared grief

The Network is supporting Dying Matters Awareness Week (May 5-11), which this year looks at different cultures commemorating death differently, but everyone sharing the same emotions.

The team will be helping to promote events held by organisations across Greater Manchester, as well as spreading the word about the week on social media.

The national campaign, led by Hospice UK, encourages open and honest discussions about end of life experiences.

This year’s theme, the Culture of Dying Matters, delves into the diverse ways communities across the UK discuss, navigate, and commemorate death and dying, while emphasising the shared emotions that connect us all in grief and loss.

While a friend or family member’s death can affect every person differently, studies of grieving brains have shown that there are no scientific differences in relation to race, age or religion. We can all feel the impact of the loss, helplessness, sadness – but we may do it, and show it, in different ways. 

Chris White, senior digital marketing and campaign manager at Hospice UK, said: “This Dying Matters Awareness Week, we’re focusing on the diverse cultural approaches to death and dying within the UK and how those perspectives can inspire more open, meaningful discussions in every community.”

For more information, or to find out how to host your own event, visit the Dying Matters website.

Events organised in Greater Manchester include:

• Bury: specialist palliative care team and Bury Hospice holding an awareness stand at Asda in Pilsworth. This will include colleagues working together to highlight and share information on the importance of talking about dying and culture.
• The Christie: lots of activities all week in the main entrance area, including the Manchester Choir performing, religious discussion slots and seed planting.
• Manchester Royal Infirmary: the supportive and palliative care team is live-streaming the free national advance care planning conference in a lecture theatre.
• Salford: Jak’s World, a suicide prevention charity, in Ordsall, is holding an evening to reflect and remember on Wednesday, May 7.
• Wigan and Leigh Hospice: a range of speakers from different faith groups will share cultural beliefs in relation to death and dying. There will be food, stalls and advance care planning areas.
• Willow Wood Hospice: there will be various activities over the week, including pop-in sessions and market place event. Find out more details.

Progress on life-saving procedure

The Diabetes Network is excited to share the progress of its engagement work so far in 2025.

As part of its efforts to redesign structured education services, the team conducted a public consultation to gather feedback on current education programmes, including strengths and areas for improvement.

The insights from this engagement will be published next month and will play a key role in shaping a new, improved delivery model.

The Network has continued to keep colleagues across Greater Manchester informed of the latest news, programme updates and clinical resources through the Diabetes Network newsletter.

If you would like to join more than 2,000 subscribers on the mailing list, please contact project manager Adam Wallis.

Also, the twice yearly in-person Diabetes Network event will take place on Thursday, May 1.

The event presents an excellent opportunity for colleagues and clinicians from across the Greater Manchester system to come together, exchange insights, discuss best practice and drive collaboration to improve care and services for people living with diabetes in Greater Manchester.

The team looks forward to sharing its progress and new opportunities for engagement in the near future.

Marathon effort from our Chris!

Congratulations to Chris Lee from our support team, who ran the Adidas Manchester Marathon last weekend. 

Chris (pictured left during the run), a project manager for the Maternity Network, finished the 26.2 mile race in three hours and 53 minutes, raising hundreds of pounds for Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity.

We had a brief chat with Chris about the race:

Why did you decide to run in the marathon?  

I wanted to challenge myself. I was never very good at running growing up and hadn’t really considered getting into running until my girlfriends’ parents bought me a pair of running shoes. I thought I’d give it a go!   

Have you run a marathon before?

Nope, I’d never ran in an organised run before. It probably would’ve been a good idea to try a park run or a half marathon, I decided to jump in at the deep end.

Why did you choose SANDS as your charity?

Sands is a charity that supports anyone affected by the death of a baby. I’ve witnessed the incredible strength of parents navigating grief firsthand, and the difference that the right support can make. It felt like the right choice for me.

A big 'well done' to Chris!

If you would like to sponsor him, you can go to his fundraising page.

Goodbye Alex!

The team said farewell to the Respiratory Network’s Alex Pegg this month.

The project manager has been a popular and valuable member of the team since he joined the SCNs in March 2021.

Alex, pictured centre, holding a Preston North End t-shirt given to him as a farewell gift, is leaving the team to join the North West Coast Clinical Networks, where he will be clinical network manager for cardiac and stroke.

We wish him well in his new role.