CF Patients Among First To Benefit From NHS Home Test Kits

A new handheld testing kit will allow thousands of shielding cystic fibrosis patients to check their health at home.

- Chris Riches

The genetic lung condition means Britain’s 10,500 sufferers are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19.

Normally when they catch a lung bug they must travel to their local hospital’s CF unit for tests and a face-to-face consultation.

But now all sufferers in England aged over six will be given a spirometer to blow into and an app to share the lung data with their medical team.

Landmark

NHS England accelerated the home kit’s roll-out due to the pandemic, as CF sufferers have been shielding at home for the past three months.

The condition causes a dangerous build-up of mucus that can clog the lungs.

Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, told the Daily Express: “For patients with cystic fibrosis this is a landmark moment, offering vital health help at home.