2 May 2023
Changes to the Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) Service at Royal Free
Dr Swapna Mandal from The Royal Free Hospital wrote to you recently informing you of the upcoming changes to your NIV (home ventilator) service supplier. Subsequently Vivisol and The Royal Free Hospital have been working closely together to provide a safe and timely transfer from your current provider, Philips Healthcare, to ourselves, Vivisol, without any disruption to your current service. We are now pleased to be able to provide you with the following update:
Who is Vivisol?
Vivisol has a proud history of providing Home Respiratory Service Solutions to over 30,000 patients within the NHS for over 25 years. Our qualified Clinical staff and Customer Service team works collaboratively together with the NHS to support its patients within this Sleep service.
Your contact details and equipment
The Royal Free Hospital will provide Vivisol with all of your contact details and necessary information in a secure manner in compliance with GDPR Regulations. This will also include the equipment you are currently using, what your consumable requirements will be and how you are managing on your therapy, so there is no need for you to contact us with this information.
When will the new service begin?
From your clinic visit in May/June Vivisol will then be responsible for managing your equipment, providing you with annual mask/interface and tubing replacements, together with the monitoring of your compliance data in order to report back to those clinicians responsible for your care at The Royal Free Hospital.
In addition to this letter, you will receive a text welcoming you to this new service with Vivisol.
Over the coming weeks, as we continue to prepare for this transfer, you will receive notification to attend an appointment at The Royal Free Hospital. It is vital that you attend this appointment and please bring your ventilator, tubing and mask with you to the appointment.
At this appointment your current device will be swapped over to a new device by a qualified Clinician and you will be assessed to ensure you are comfortable on it and that it is delivering appropriate ventilation for you. You will also be given contact information for Vivisol should you need any help with your machine/device/ventilator or consumables.
Please be assured that Vivisol will provide you with your annual replacement masks, tubing and filters according to dates provided to us from the Royal Free Hospital.
As soon as you have received your new device Vivisol can be contacted as detailed below;
For any help using your device or for any equipment breakdowns please call the Freephone number 0800 121 4012 which is available 24 hours a day. "Please note, this is not an emergency service so if you are in need of emergency medical help, then contacting emergency services would be the appropriate course of action"
In addition to our specialised team on the phones you can log onto our dedicated website www.vivisol.co.uk/sleep to view our bespoke videos to assist you when needed.
For out of hours support please call and your call will be escalated as appropriate.
For general enquiries you can also email respsupport@vivisol.co.uk and a member of the sleep team will contact you.
Remember, Vivisol will already have all your details so there will be no need for you to contact us before your appointment to check. Obviously if you have an urgent need after this appointment our professional and skilled Non-Invasive Ventilation Team will be available to assist.
We are looking forward to getting to know you in the coming weeks and to will give you an understanding of Vivisol and the help we will be providing as you transition over to our service.
Kind regards,
Mark Lamble
Service Delivery Director
Amanda Whiffin
Clinical Director