Ireland is facing a lung disease crisis unless urgent measures are taken to invest in staffing and services, respiratory experts have warned.

According to members of the Irish Thoracic Society's COVID-19 sub-group, prior to the pandemic, Ireland's death rate from respiratory disease was already the fourth highest in the EU and was 38% higher than the EU average.

Furthermore, the number of respiratory specialists per capita was among the lowest in the world. International guidelines suggest one respiratory physician per 35,000 of the population is appropriate. In 2018, Ireland had one per 80,000 of the population.

The experts warned that as the country enters an indefinite period of reduced access to healthcare services due to necessary physical distancing and infection control at healthcare facilities nationwide, COVID-19 has inflicted a "triple-whammy" on lung health:

-COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that has dramatically and unexpectedly increased the already significant burden on respiratory disease services, both in terms of short-term acute illness and potential long-term damage to the lungs. This will require ongoing monitoring and care for some patients
-People with existing respiratory diseases are particularly vulnerable to complications if they contract COVID-19
-People with new and existing respiratory diseases face delayed access to essential care due to COVID-19 restrictions. This follows a 10-week hiatus for acute respiratory admissions and routine respiratory care.

"It is clear that we are storing up a backlog of undiagnosed and untreated respiratory disease at a magnitude that will have untold implications for the healthcare service and for our patients in the coming months and years, unless urgent action is taken.

"The stark reality of delayed access to care for people with lung disease is deteriorating health, reduced quality of life and sadly, in some cases, premature death," commented the president of the Irish Thoracic Society, Dr Aidan O'Brien.

The experts said that additional resources for the diagnosis, treatment and ongoing care of people with lung diseases are essential if a crisis is to be averted. They are calling for a greater number of respiratory specialists and other healthcare professionals to provide essential care in both hospitals and communities.

They are also calling for investment in infrastructure to allow for necessary space and isolation facilities.

"We commend the Herculean efforts of our colleagues throughout the healthcare system in retaining access to non-COVID-19 healthcare as much as possible, while addressing the specific challenge of COVID-19 through separate access streams, virtual consultations and other innovative solutions.

"However, in order to prevent a future lung health crisis at a scale not yet seen in this country, we need to harness this capacity for transformation, innovation and investment, to ensure that our patients can access timely multidisciplinary specialist care at community and hospital levels," Dr O'Brien said.

He noted that patients have followed the Government's advice by cocooning and self-managing their conditions throughout the pandemic.

"They have played a crucial role in ensuring that our hospitals have not become overwhelmed. We now need to ensure that this sacrifice has not been at a long-term cost to their own health and that all patients receive equality of treatment and care into the future," he added.

Lung diseases include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, lung cancer, cystic fibrosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

The Irish Thoracic Society's COVID-19 subgroup includes representatives from all hospital groups and disciplines, including Prof Sean Gaine of the Mater Hospital in Dublin, Prof JJ Gilmartin of Galway University Hospital and Dr Marcus Kennedy of Cork University Hospital.