Dying woman campaigns for 'better awareness'

A woman who has just six months to live is campaigning to get her illness ‘taken more seriously’ by the NHS.

Carol Hoyle, of Rochdale, is in the final stages of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), a fast declining lung condition which is closely linked with working in the cotton industry and smoking.

Mrs Hoyle has been as far as the House of Commons to get the health service to provide more efficient treatment for sufferers who are in the early stages.

Margaret Rigg, 55, also of Castleton, could have as little as two years to live, now that she has contracted the illness. She worked in the cotton mills for much of her young working life.

Health chiefs say that COPD is predominantly caused by smoking, but Mrs Hoyle is keen to get the cotton industry recognised as a major factor.

She said: “Just look at how many more people in the North of England have COPD, all the people who worked in the cotton industry.

“But all you get is that it’s down to smoking, and there is just no compassion for us at all.”

Mrs Hoyle is part of a group of local sufferers who meet up monthly, called Breathe Easy.

She added: “There are quite a few of us around, smokers and non smokers alike, but we all worked in the mills.

“The Government doesn’t want to take responsibility.”

Gail Lett, commissioning lead for long term conditions at NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, said: “Nearly 900,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with having Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and half as many people are thought to not even know they have it. COPD is the most common lung disease, predominantly caused by smoking, and cause of disability and death.

“COPD is greater in areas of deprivation, like the Rochdale Borough and people living here suffer from more chronic illnesses such as COPD than many other places in the country. Around 5% of the borough’s population are estimated to have COPD. Whilst much of this is due to smoking, some of the borough’s COPD suffers are an unfortunate legacy of the cotton mill industry.

“To help those who do suffer with COPD, NHS HMR and Pennine Acute operate a well-established service called the Acute Respiratory Assessment Service (ARAS) which supports people who are in hospital to get better and return home as quickly as possible.

“To help prevent COPD in the first place NHS HMR operates a fantastic stop smoking service, which helped 1,820 people to quit last year.”