Despite the improvement in the survival rate in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, there is a cohort of patients with severe hypoxaemia and hypercapnia who offer a significant therapeutic challenge and may require some of the more contentious rescue therapies, including prone positioning, high-frequency oscillatory ventilation and extracorporeal support. It is essential to implement a protocolised pathway for diagnosis and individualised treatment for these patients. In 2011, the English National Specialist Commissioning Service established a number of severe respiratory centres for England including the provision of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Early referral is essential for the successful use of rescue therapy as the evidence indicates that the time of mechanical ventilation prior to rescue therapy is a key predictor of mortality. Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust has been commissioned as one of the severe respiratory failure services and we describe the process of assessment and management that we have instituted to manage patients with severe respiratory failure.
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