Integrated Respiratory Care

Irem Patel is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at King’s Health Partners, and Honorary Senior Lecturer within the Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology at King’s College London. She holds one of the first posts in Integrated Respiratory Care in the UK.

Dr Patel trained in London and undertook postgraduate research into mechanisms of COPD exacerbations at the London Chest Hospital. Her specialist and research interests include COPD, respiratory infection, respiratory failure and the development and delivery of pathways of care for patients with chronic respiratory disease. She leads a multidisciplinary specialist team spanning hospital and community delivering integrated respiratory care in South East London. She is co-Head of the Respiratory Department at King’s College Hospital as well as Clinical Lead for COPD, Asthma, Oxygen and Treating Tobacco Dependence. She works closely with local Clinical Commissioning Groups and Local Care Networks to inform local respiratory strategy.

On a London level Dr Patel was a member of the London Respiratory Network from 2013-2016 and is co-lead of the London Clinical Oxygen Network (2015-). On a national level she was involved in the development of competency frameworks to support the National COPD Strategy and has worked as Clinical Adviser and Steering Group member for a number of NHS Improvement COPD and Asthma projects. She is a clinical advisor to the British Lung Foundation, has served on the British Thoracic Society Council and Education and Training Committees and is a current member of the BTS Tobacco Specialist Advisory Group.

Dr Patel is Associate Editor of the Primary Care Respiratory Journal. She is actively involved in teaching and training both within King’s Health Partners and in supporting respiratory skills and competencies amongst colleagues in primary care.