22 January 2014

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Lung function testing services generally grew out of respiratory research departments with an interest in physiology in the 1950- 1960’s, and by the 1970’s most large hospitals in the UK could offer some kind of lung function testing facility. In 1976 ARTP was formed as a professional body to set training programmes and standards of practice in place. Initially termed ‘technicians’, the roles of the staff in lung function have expanded to cover a range of physiological techniques to assess airway function (for asthma & COPD), gas transfer (pulmonary fibrosis, emphysema) and specific patterns of physiological change in other respiratory disorders. The staff who undertake these roles are Healthcare Scientists and now mainly use the titles ‘Clinical Physiologist’ and ‘Clinical Scientist’.