Respiratory
Respiratory and lung health
Our vision is for a population health approach to respiratory and lung health, with a focus on prevention, early diagnosis and digitally-enabled, high quality, personalised care.
This will be delivered by a skilled and empowered workforce, whether people are in a hospital bed, a care home setting or their own home. This approach is underpinned by integrated working across PCNs (general practice and community services) and secondary care, through a multidisciplinary team approach and in partnership with patients and their carers.
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Respiratory disease affects one in five people in England and is the third biggest cause of death. Hospital admissions for lung disease have risen over the past seven years at three times the rate of all admissions generally. Respiratory disease remains a huge contributing factor to the winter pressures faced by the NHS.
Specific groups such as those with long term conditions, disabilities, homelessness, older people, children and ethnic communities, face a greater impact from respiratory disease.
The NHS Long Term Plan, identified respiratory disease as a national clinical priority, with specific commitments on early and accurate diagnosis, medicines optimisation, pulmonary and combined rehabilitation, community acquired pneumonia and education options for respiratory patients.
The respiratory programme has been designed so that it is clinically led from start to finish, with a clinical lead from each county. The clinicians will oversee the programme through the Respiratory Expert Advisory Group. There is a dedicated programme manager from the CCG supporting and identified as a priority for the system.
There are strong links within the PCNs identified, with the PCNs providing ownership and delivery of outcomes. Medicines management, patient experience, digital improvements, prevention and public health are all integral parts of the respiratory working group, driving change forward.
For further information on the Respiratory and Lung Health Programme, please contact Deta Almond on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.