Interstitial lung disease patient information

Find out what to expect when you come to hospital for your appointment.

Before your appointment

You are welcome to bring a relative, close friend or carer with you to your appointment. You are also welcome to ask for a chaperone and we will endeavour to provide one for you.

We recommend that you wear loose fitting clothing and comfortable shoes to your appointment, as we may do a walk test during your consultation. On occasion, we may ask you to withhold from using your inhaler for 24 hours prior to lung function tests.

Please remember to check your appointment letter for anything specific you have been asked to bring with you. In addition, it would be helpful if you could bring the following:

• Your full address and telephone number(s)
• Your appointment card and appointment letter
• Your GP’s name and address
• Money to pay for any prescriptions, or an exemption card
• A list of questions you may want to ask your consultant
• A list of current medications

During your appointment

Please note that we are a teaching hospital, so medical students may be present for some appointments. If you do not wish to have them in the room please let the nurse or doctor know and the students will be asked to step outside.

People are usually referred to this clinic if they have shortness of breath and a productive cough. At your appointment, a specialist respiratory doctor will discuss these and any other symptoms with you and will review your condition. Some tests may be carried out, including x-rays, more detailed scans of your chest, breathing tests and blood tests. Sometimes we also look into your lungs with a small camera to take samples. The clinics include input from a variety of professionals including specialist nurses and symptom-control specialists.

We will also ask you to see our clinic nurse who will go over the investigations that you may require as well as the timeline for these which will include CT scans, full lung function tests and may include bronchoscopies or endobronchial ultrasound, transbronchial node aspirates, blood tests and cardiac tests.

After your appointment

Once your tests have been completed your case will be discussed in the ILD MDT and an MDT outcome generated, and the ILD specialist seeing you will discuss your diagnosis and management plan in detail and liaise with your referring doctor. You will be given written information sheets on your diagnosis and treatments.