Meet the Team – Becky D’Cruz

Becky D’Cruz, Home Mechanical Ventilation in Partnership (HMViP)

Consultant, Lane Fox Unit, Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust

Background
Respiratory Medicine Consultant, specialising in Weaning, Rehabilitation and Complex Home Ventilation.

What is your interest in HMV?
I enjoy the challenge and complexity of working with patients who are suitable for home mechanical ventilation. Home respiratory support can be difficult for patients to get used to, and its rationale can be difficult to explain. Working with specialist allied healthcare professionals and nurses to help patients understand why HMV is recommended, making it as comfortable a therapy as possible, and helping to reduce the risk of patients developing respiratory deterioration is very rewarding.

When did you join the HMViP?
May 2022

What do you personally hope to see the group achieve?
Home mechanical ventilation is a specialist area within respiratory medicine that is relevant to a very large patient population. This includes patients with COPD, obesity and neuromuscular disease. There are currently limited resources to support patients and their carers, as well as non-specialist clinicians, in this field. I hope that HMViP can provide valuable practical information for HMV users, patients who may benefit from HMV in the future, and care-givers.