Respiratory Services in Stirling

If you’re experiencing a chronic cough or having difficulty breathing, you can quickly get access to an experienced respiratory physician at The Kings Park Hospital in Stirling. We offer regular outpatient appointments around your schedule, and you’ll always have plenty of time with your consultant to discuss your problem.

Our Consultant Respiratory Physicians are patient-focused, dual-accredited doctors. It means they are trained to be general physicians and specialists who care for patients with disorders of the lungs, the chest wall, and the diaphragm.

They can assess and treat a wide range of conditions to do with the upper and lower respiratory tracts (the organs to do with breathing). Our consultants have access to blood tests, lung function tests, electrocardiograms (ECGs) to record your heart’s electrical activity, and x-rays that help them to diagnose your respiratory problem. They also perform bronchoscopies, where they pass a slim, flexible tube with a light through your nose and down into areas of your lungs to take samples through a biopsy.

Our hospital is right in the heart of Scotland, serving patients from the Forth Valley and further afield. Its position next to arterial motorway routes means it’s quick to get to from all areas.

Most patients presenting at GP surgeries and hospitals are there for something related to the respiratory system. The system comprises the upper and lower respiratory tracts, including the nose, the cavity behind the nose and mouth (pharynx), voice box (larynx), windpipe (trachea), airways to the lungs (bronchi) and lungs.

Respiratory medicine at The Kings Park Hospital covers asthma, chronic cough, pulmonary fibrosis, sleep apnoea, abnormal chest x-rays, unspecified allergies, and general reviews of respiratory problems.

As our respiratory physicians are dual-accredited doctors, they may also spot something else relating to general medicine, such as a lump of bump unrelated to the lungs or respiratory tract.

At The Kings Park Hospital, our respiratory physicians run outpatient clinics offering a mix of care from acute cases of pneumonia, which resolve quickly, to more common, chronic problems such as:

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Emphysema (long-term bronchitis)
• Asthma
• Lung cancer
• Pulmonary thrombosis (blood clot in the lungs)
• Scarring of the lungs

A significant element of the practice at Kings Park Hospital involves studying allergy – a specialist area under-represented in the UK, with respiratory physicians bridging that gap. Allergy goes hand-in-hand with patients with asthmatic airway disease.

Another common disease that Consultant Respiratory Physicians treat is sarcoidosis, which presents as purple, raised, and painful lumps on the shins. Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that can affect multiple organs within the body.

The interconnected nature of the airways and similar processes in the nose as the lungs means respiratory physicians often refer to ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists. They can also refer patients to our gastroenterologists if they believe a cough is an acid reflux problem rather than one with the airways. Another possible though less common referral is to a cardiologist if your consultant finds an underlying heart issue causes unexplained breathlessness.

You can self-refer to see our Consultant Respiratory Physicians, or your GP/consultant can refer you.

When you arrive at the hospital, you will check in at our reception and be shown to our outpatient waiting area. Your respiratory consultant will then lead you into their clinic. During the consultation, they will ask you to provide a detailed history of your complaint, what caused you to go to the GP in the first place and why they referred you to a specialist.

They would then explore the background to that, discussing any recent x-ray investigations, and asking broader questions about your past medical, current medication, and social history, giving you plenty of time to ask questions.

Respiratory physicians take occupational history into account, as they sometimes see asbestos-related lung diseases related to work.

The consultation begins when you rise from your seat in the waiting room and walk to the private consulting room. At this stage, your consultant will be assessing your gait, general health, and fitness.

Our respiratory consultants are trained to notice minor things, from fingernail abnormalities to skin tags and skin pigmentations and patterns associated with types of systemic-diseases.

A physical examination is usually required. During this, your consultant will feel the glands in your neck, listen to your chest with a stethoscope, and check your heart.

Your consultant may give you a breathing test (spirometry) at The King’s Park Hospital to give them some idea of how your lungs are performing. It’s a small piece of computer-testing equipment with a screen and a tube connected with a mouthpiece. You take a deep breath in and exhale rapidly into the mouthpiece. The machine monitors the volume of air blown out and the speed, from which your consultant can infer whether there’s any underlying lung condition.

They may also perform blood oxygen measurements and lung function tests in the clinic room during the consultation. In patients with sleep problems, they may request a sleep study.

The management plan will depend on your condition. If your consultant suspects scarring on the lung, they will book you in for cross-sectional imaging at our sister hospital, The Ross Hall Hospital in Glasgow. A computerised tomography scan (CT) takes detailed pictures of your chest. Along with chest x-rays, a CT scan can help your consultant get a clear understanding of your lungs’ structure. 

Your consultant may arrange for a panel of allergy testing for asthmatic patients and those who may have food allergies. Tests can show that you may have oral allergy syndrome rather than anaphylaxis.

Patients with asthma often have sinusitis or nasal polyps, so there is a lot of cross-referral between respiratory consultants and ENT specialists. Controlling one problem may help to control the other, but you could start with either specialist.

Most treatments for respiratory disorders are inhaler-based therapies. In some patients, they may prescribe specialist tablets or injectable treatments.

Your consultant may refer you to a specialist cardiothoracic surgeon if they decide lung surgery is required. Such a referral happens rarely, and most conditions can be managed or treated non-invasively.

Our Consultant Respiratory Physicians always put your needs first, from initial conversations and diagnostics to tailored management and treatment plans. They are always mindful of the effect of respiratory illnesses on your quality of life and, as a group, are supportive, caring and sympathetic to your individual needs.

After your consultation, your consultant will write to you and your GP, explaining your condition and any diagnostics or treatments recommended. They may also send you your CT scan report with an annotation explaining what it all means in plain English.