New mobile app could transform care for lung surgery patients

April 23, 2024

United Kingdom, April 22, 2024: A mobile app developed by researchers at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust could transform how lung surgery patients receive their rehabilitation after surgery.

The Fit for Surgery app developed by the Thoracic surgery research team at the Trust, which runs Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals, will allow patients to access the award-winning Rehabilitation for Operated Lung Cancer (ROC) programme from the comfort of their own home without the need for a hospital visit.

The ROC programme was developed at the Trust and has been widely adopted across the UK. The outpatient programme consists of exercise training, self-management education, nutritional and smoking cessation support.

Mr Babu Naidu (pictured below), consultant thoracic surgeon at Heartlands Hospital which is home to the regional thoracic surgery unit covering a catchment area of more than 6 million people, explained why the app has been developed and what benefits it could bring for patients.

He said: “Research shows that around 15% of the 5,700 patients in the UK that undergo lung resection or removal primarily for the treatment of cancer develop post-operative pulmonary/lung complications (PPC), and once this has developed mortality increases from 0.5% to 12%. “The ROC programme has demonstrated improvement in complications and hospital readmission but the lack of immediate access to pulmonary rehabilitation programmes across the country has hampered its success, so we identified a need to develop a service that can be delivered immediately at the convenience and control of the patient.