Staff share their experiences of the past year in a film for Lancaster Litfest

The short film is one of six shot by Kyle McKenzie, an emerging Lancaster-based filmmaker and producer. The 'How We Live Now' films will take a look at the lives of members of our local community during a turbulent year and explore themes of environmental concern, social justice, health, business, migration, and the arts.

Before the pandemic hit, Naomi, Helen and their colleagues in the North Lancashire Community Respiratory Team were delivering a face-to-face pulmonary rehabilitation programme to patients with long-term respiratory conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease but quickly had to adapt their service to support patients with long-COVID.

North Lancashire Community Respiratory Team works closely with the Bay Health Care Partners Morecambe Bay Respiratory Network (MBRN). The aim of the MBRN is to provide better care for patients with respiratory disease by developing a fully integrated model of care, through bringing together primary, secondary and community care teams around the three localities of North Lancashire, South Lakes and Furness.

Naomi, Pulmonary Rehabilitation Physiotherapist, said: “We were delighted to be asked to take part in the film to talk about how our team has had to adapt during COVID to support patients. It has been a long journey and difficult at times but there are a lot of positives we can take from the experience.”

Helen, Pulmonary Rehabilitation Team Leader, added: “We were honoured to highlight the work we have done but we would also like to mention the many other teams in the community and in our hospitals across the Trust, our colleagues in our Bay Health and Care Partners and those working outside the health and care system who have done a phenomenal job during the pandemic.”

The film will premier online on Thursday 18 March at 7.30pm. You can register for free tickets here https://litfest.org/hwlnow/ You can find out more about the festival at https://litfest.org/

A link to the film will be shared via the Bay Health and Care Partners social media @MorecambeBHCP following the festival.