Understanding Spirometry: Why Waiting Lists Are Long and How Our Service Offers a Faster Solution

Spirometry What It Is & Why Wait Times Are So Long

Spirometry is a common lung function test that helps doctors diagnose and monitor breathing conditions. In this post, we explain what spirometry is, how it works, and what to expect during the test. We’ll also explore why there are long waiting lists for spirometry in England right now – covering everything from NHS backlogs to new regulations – and compare different options for getting a test. Finally, we highlight how our one-stop spirometry service can save you time and money, with a simple appointment booking (even on behalf of a family member) with no referral required.

What Is Spirometry and What Does It Measure?

Spirometry is a simple, non-invasive test that measures how well your lungs are working​(nhs.uk) Essentially, it checks how much air you can blow out of your lungs and how fast you can do it. The test is performed using a device called a spirometer, which is a small machine attached to a mouthpiece​ (nhs.uk) By breathing into the spirometer, the device records two key values:

• Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV₁): the amount of air you can forcefully exhale in one second.

  
  

• Forced Vital Capacity (FVC): the total volume of air you can exhale in one full breath.

  
  

These measurements are compared against normal expected values for someone of your age, height, and sex (​nhs.uk) If your results are lower than normal, it can indicate that your lungs aren’t working properly (​nhs.uk) Doctors use spirometry results to identify patterns of lung problems. For example, reduced airflow with normal lung volume suggests obstructive airways disease (as seen in asthma or COPD), whereas reduced lung volume suggests restrictive lung disease, as in pulmonary fibrosis (​nhs.uk) In simpler terms, spirometry can show whether your breathing issue is due to narrowed airways or stiff lungs, helping pinpoint conditions like asthma, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and other chronic lung diseases.

Importantly, spirometry is non-invasive – it involves breathing into a tube, not needles or blood tests. It is a routine, well-established test in lung health care. Doctors often request spirometry if you have symptoms like persistent cough or breathlessness, or if you’re at risk for lung conditions, for instance, if you smoke and are over a certain age (​nhs.uk) It’s also used to monitor people who already have a lung condition, to check how severe it is or how well treatment is working (​nhs.uk) Even if you’re being evaluated for surgery or other health issues, doctors might order a spirometry test to assess your general lung function (​nhs.uk) In all cases, the test provides crucial numbers that guide diagnosis and treatment.

Example of A Handheld Spirometry Device

How Does a Spirometry Test Work?

A spirometry test is straightforward. During the appointment, you will be seated comfortably, and the clinician will place a soft clip on your nose so that all your breath goes through your mouth during the test (​nhs.uk) You will then be given a clean mouthpiece attached to the spirometer. The clinician will explain and possibly have you practice the technique a couple of times so you feel at ease (​nhs.uk)

When you’re ready, here’s what typically happens in a spirometry test:

1. Deep Breath In: You take the deepest breath you can, filling your lungs completely​(nhs.uk)

2. Blast the Air Out: You seal your lips around the mouthpiece and exhale as forcefully and fast as possible until your lungs feel empty (​nhs.uk) It’s like blowing out candles, but all in one go.

3. Repeat for Accuracy: You will repeat this manoeuvre at least three times to ensure the results are consistent and reliable (​nhs.uk) The best readings will be used.

4. Possible Second Round: In some cases, you might be given an inhaler (bronchodilator medication) to open up your airways, wait about 15 minutes, and then blow into the spirometer again​ (nhs.uk) This checks whether your lung function improves with medication, which is useful for diagnosing asthma or seeing how treatable your condition is.

   
   

The whole test does not hurt at all – you might just feel a bit short of breath or tired from the effort of blowing out. The appointment usually lasts around 30 to 90 minutes in total​(nhs.uk), because of preparation, instructions, and any rest between attempts. Once you’re done, you can go home and resume normal activities right away (​nhs.uk) There’s no recovery time needed.

Safety: Spirometry is a very safe procedure for most people. It’s simply breathing into a machine. There are no injections, and it’s generally considered very safe with minimal risks​(nhs.uk) Some people feel a bit dizzy or lightheaded just after blowing out (from the big effort), or slightly tired, but these feelings pass quickly (​nhs.uk) The test does increase pressure in your chest and head briefly when you exhale hard, so if you have had recent surgeries or certain heart problems, the doctor might delay the test until it’s safe. However, for the vast majority of patients, spirometry is non-invasive and low-risk. The clinician will screen you for any contraindications beforehand to be sure it’s appropriate for you.

Overall, you can think of spirometry as a breathing exercise test – you blow into a tube, and it measures your lung strength and capacity. It’s quick to perform and done in many GP surgeries, clinics, or hospitals, usually by trained healthcare professionals. Now that you know what spirometry is and how it works, let’s look at why getting a spirometry test done isn’t always as quick – especially within the NHS in England at the moment.

Why Are Spirometry Waiting Lists So Long in England?

If you’ve been told you need a spirometry test, you might be frustrated to learn that there’s a long waiting list. This is a reality in many parts of England right now, and several factors have contributed to the backlog. Below we break down the main reasons for the delays:

• General NHS Backlogs and High Demand: The NHS is under pressure with many areas of care experiencing delays. Lung function tests like spirometry are in high demand for diagnosing common conditions such as COPD and asthma. It’s estimated that a significant number of people needing lung tests are waiting far too long – one survey found 1 in 5 patients with a chronic lung condition had to wait over a year for an accurate diagnosis (pulsetoday.co.uk) This high demand, combined with limited testing slots, has led to extended waiting times.

  
  

• Limited GP Surgery Provision: Historically, many GP surgeries handled basic spirometry for their patients, but this has become patchy across England. Some GP practices have chosen not to offer spirometry on-site due to resource constraints or lack of trained staff. In fact, in certain areas, there is no local GP or community spirometry service at all, meaning GPs have nowhere nearby to refer patients for the test (​bmjgroup.com) This inconsistency (often called a “postcode lottery”) forces patients into a queue for the few available hospital or clinic appointments. NHS England recently acknowledged this problem, noting that spirometry provision is patchy, with many regions not providing tests at all, leaving thousands of people without a timely diagnosis (​pulsetoday.co.uk) In short, not every GP practice can do the test, so patients often have to join a regional waiting list.

  
  

• COVID-19 Disruption: The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on lung testing services. At the start of the pandemic, spirometry services were halted across the country for safety reasons (​pulsetoday.co.uk) Blowing forcefully into a tube was considered an aerosol-generating procedure, raising concerns about spreading the virus in clinics. Understandably, routine spirometry was paused to protect patients and staff. Even as other services resumed, restarting spirometry proved challenging – old appointment backlogs remained, and extra precautions were needed (like enhanced cleaning and ventilation between patients). This pandemic pause created a diagnostic backlog that is still being cleared. Many people who would have been tested in 2020 or 2021 got delayed, and those delays piled on top of normal demand in subsequent years.

  
  

• HSE and NICE Guidelines (Safety and Clinical Standards): Strict guidelines from health authorities have also influenced how quickly spirometry services could restart. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and professional respiratory societies issued guidance on infection control – for example, requiring thorough cleaning of equipment and waiting periods to allow room air to circulate after each test. These necessary safety steps meant fewer tests could be done per day. At the same time, NICE guidelines (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) emphasise how essential spirometry is for diagnosing conditions like COPD and asthma (​bmjgroup.com) In fact, a NICE guideline update in 2019 made it clear that spirometry should be performed to confirm these diagnoses (​bmjgroup.com) This means doctors are rightly ordering more spirometry tests to meet best-practice standards, even as capacity to perform tests struggled to ramp back up post-COVID. The combination of safety measures slowing down throughput and clinical guidelines increasing demand has unfortunately widened the gap between patients needing tests and tests available.

  
  

• Cost of Equipment, Training, and Staffing: Not just anyone can perform a quality spirometry test – it requires the right equipment and trained personnel. A good spirometer device can be expensive, and it must be regularly calibrated and maintained. Additionally, healthcare professionals need training to conduct the test properly and interpret the results. In recent years, there has been a push for all spirometry operators to be officially certified as competent. Training courses and certification (through recognised bodies like the ARTP) cost money and take time. For a GP surgery, investing in a spirometer machine and sending staff on training courses (and keeping their skills updated) can be a significant expense. Some practices, especially if not specifically funded to do so, may opt not to provide spirometry and instead refer patients elsewhere. Those that do offer it might only have a limited number of trained staff or certain days when tests are done. Overall, resource limitations – whether it’s the price of machines or the availability of trained staff – have constrained the number of tests that can be offered in the NHS, contributing to longer waits.

  
  

• Increased Regulations by ARTP (Association for Respiratory Technology & Physiology): The ARTP is the professional body that sets standards for lung function testing in the UK. In recent years, they’ve introduced higher standards and an accreditation program to ensure spirometry tests are done correctly and results are reliable. These regulations are excellent for quality – they help make sure patients get accurate diagnoses – but they also raise the bar for providers. For example, healthcare professionals now are encouraged (or required in some settings) to obtain an ARTP spirometry certification. The process involves assessments of competency and periodic re-certification. Implementing these standards has been challenging in primary care; many staff found the certification process time-consuming and difficult to fit around their other duties (​pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov​pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) While not all staff are yet accredited, the push for quality has meant some GP practices stopped offering spirometry until their staff could be trained, or they refer patients to specialised centres that meet the accreditation standards. In summary, higher regulatory standards (while beneficial in the long run) have initially slowed down the provision of spirometry because services needed to upgrade training, quality control, and paperwork to comply.

  
  

All of the above factors together explain why you might be facing a long wait for an NHS spirometry appointment. The good news is that there’s growing recognition of this issue – NHS England has recently instructed local commissioners to invest in community spirometry services to tackle the backlog (​pulsetoday.co.uk​pulsetoday.co.uk) But system-wide changes take time. In the meantime, patients in need of timely lung function testing have the option of turning to the private sector. However, not all private options are equal, as we’ll discuss next.

Private Hospital Spirometry: Why Multiple Appointments Are Often Required

If you consider going privately for a spirometry test through a large hospital provider (such as Nuffield Health, Spire, or Bupa hospitals), it’s important to understand how their process usually works. Many large private healthcare providers do offer spirometry testing, but they typically build it into a pathway that involves several appointments rather than a single visit.

For example, a standard private route might look like this:

• Initial Consultation: First, you’d book a consultation with a private respiratory specialist or consultant. In this appointment, the doctor will assess your symptoms and medical history, and then order the spirometry test based on their evaluation. You usually won’t do the test on the spot unless it has been arranged in advance, because the tests are often scheduled separately. This initial consult often incurs a significant fee (it could be a few hundred pounds for the specialist’s time).

  
  

• Spirometry Test Appointment: Next, you’ll have the actual spirometry test scheduled, perhaps on a different day or time. You’d come in to see a healthcare professional who conducts the test. Sometimes this can be on the same day as the initial consult if the service is coordinated, but often it may be a separate visit especially if the test requires a specific department or machine booking. The spirometry test itself might have a charge associated with it as well (some private centres list a separate fee for lung function tests).

  
  

• Follow-Up Review: After the test, you typically need another appointment with the doctor to get your results explained. The specialist will review your spirometry readings (and any other tests) and discuss the diagnosis or next steps with you. This is often a follow-up consultation, which again may be billed separately.

  
  

As you can imagine, this multi-step process means at least two or three appointments in total. It also means paying for each step – the initial consultation, the test itself, and the follow-up. Not only can this approach be more expensive, but it also takes more time and coordination from the patient’s perspective. You might have to take multiple days off work or make several trips to the clinic. In some cases, weeks could pass between that first consultation and the final follow-up (especially if scheduling the test and then the results appointment takes time).

Why do many big private providers use this model? Largely because it fits their standard care pathways: a consultant oversees your care, orders diagnostics, and then reviews them with you. It’s a comprehensive approach, but if your main goal is simply to get a spirometry test and a report of the results, this traditional private route may feel cumbersome. For someone who already has an NHS GP or consultant who just asked for a spirometry, the multiple private appointments might be overkill – you might not actually need a full private consultation and follow-up if you plan to take the results back to your NHS doctor for interpretation and treatment.

In summary, while going private can potentially get you tested sooner than waiting on the NHS, the large hospital groups often require more time and money due to their multi-appointment process. This is where our service comes in, offering a more streamlined option.

One-Stop Private Spirometry Service: Faster Testing, Quick Results

Imagine if you could get your spirometry test done in one straightforward visit and walk away with your results in hand. That’s exactly what our private spirometry service provides. We understand that people want answers about their lung health quickly and without unnecessary steps. Our service is designed to be patient-centric and efficient, allowing you to get tested and get results without the need for multiple consultations.

How our one-stop spirometry service works: You book a single appointment with us specifically for a spirometry test – no need for a prior consultant referral. When you come in, a qualified respiratory clinician will perform the spirometry test, following the standard procedure we described earlier. Because this is a dedicated spirometry appointment, we can focus on getting accurate results right then and there. We ensure that our equipment is modern and well-calibrated, and our staff are trained to national standards for quality (including ARTP certification where applicable).

After the test, you will receive your results – typically including the key measurements (FEV₁, FVC, etc.) and an interpretation or a report explaining the findings in plain language. We take the time to explain the numbers to you so you understand how your lungs performed. You’ll have a chance to ask any questions about the test process or results. There’s no separate follow-up visit required just to hear what the numbers mean – we do that on the spot. However if you do wish to speak with one of our doctors afterwards this can be arranged by face to face, telephone or video call appointment to suit your needs and is not mandated like other services.

Crucially, you can then take these results back to your NHS GP or referring doctor. We can forward the report to your GP or provide you a copy to hand over. Your NHS doctor can use our test results to make or confirm a diagnosis and plan your treatment, just as they would with an NHS-performed spirometry. In other words, our test results integrate into your ongoing care.

We recommend discussing with your NHS GP before proceeding with our tests or procedures to ensure they accept our results, as they know your medical history and can provide continuity of care. As a CQC-registered provider, we meet high standards for quality and safety. Our staff are ARTP-registered, indicating rigorous training and qualifications. We follow NHS-aligned protocols, ensuring our results are credible and reliable. Involving your GP fosters a collaborative approach, enhancing your healthcare experience and ensuring a comprehensive treatment plan bringing the NHS and private sector together.

Benefits of the one-stop approach:

• Save Time: Only one appointment needed. You don’t have to juggle multiple bookings or wait weeks between steps. This is ideal if you’re seeking a diagnosis quickly or if you simply want the peace of mind of knowing your lung function status without delay.

  
  

• Save Money: You’re only paying for the test itself, not for two or three separate private consultations. One appointment means one fee. This can make private spirometry far more affordable. In many cases, patients choose our service to avoid the higher cost of a full private specialist work-up when they really only needed the test data.

• Convenience: We strive to make the experience smooth and patient-friendly. From easy booking (you can schedule online or over the phone) to a comfortable testing environment, our goal is to reduce any hassle for you. The appointment slots are typically longer than a rushed hospital test, so we have time to coach you through the blows to get the best results. You’ll feel looked after in a friendly clinical environment, and because it’s just one visit, it’s easier to fit into your life.

  
  

• Quality and Accuracy: Even though we skip the redundant consultations, we do not skip on quality. Our service follows all relevant guidelines for performing spirometry. The results you get are just as accurate and valid as those from any NHS or big private hospital lab. We use calibrated spirometers and disposable anti-bacterial mouthpieces (for hygiene) and adhere to infection control protocols. So you can be confident in the readings.

  
  

This standalone testing model is somewhat new in private healthcare – we’re proud to be offering something that really puts patients’ needs first. It’s especially useful for patients who have already seen a doctor (for example, your GP or a physician who suggested you get a spirometry) and simply need to get the test done and return with results. It cuts through the red tape and gets you answers faster.

Book Your Spirometry Test Today – Breathe Easier Sooner

If you’ve been waiting for a spirometry appointment or are considering one, take control of your lung health by booking a test with our one-stop service. We are here to help you get the answers you need without delay. Booking is easy: you can schedule an appointment for yourself, and you can also book on behalf of someone else – for instance, a parent, child, or friend who may not be tech-savvy or who you are caring for. We welcome bookings by family members or caregivers, and we’ll treat your loved ones with the same attentive care. We can also provide this service as a home visit which is especially useful for those with busy lives or mobility issues. Don’t let long waiting lists or complicated processes hold you back from getting a lung function test. With our private spirometry service, you could have your test done and results ready often within days, rather than waiting months. This means you and your GP can start any necessary treatment or management plan much sooner, helping you or your loved one breathe better and feel better faster.

Ready to book your spirometry appointment?

Contact us today to find an appointment slot that suits you. Our friendly staff will guide you through the simple booking process (and can answer any remaining questions you have about the test). Remember, you can book for yourself or for someone else who needs the test – taking that first step on their behalf can make a world of difference to their health. Early testing and diagnosis are key in conditions like COPD and asthma, so don’t wait longer than you have to. To find out more and to view our online booking system click here.

Your lungs matter – let us help you get the care you deserve, quickly and conveniently. 🚀 (We look forward to helping you breathe easier!)