Respiratory disease affects one in five people and is the third biggest cause of death in England (after cancer and cardiovascular disease). The UK is in the top 20 developed countries for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) deaths and admissions with COPD are the third most common cause of death in England, with approximately 30,000 deaths per year.
The NHS Long Term Plan outlines how Health Education England will be targeting investment to improve treatment and support for people with respiratory disease, with an ambition to transform our outcomes to equal, or better, our international counterparts.
Between 10-30% of people with COPD are not diagnosed until they are admitted to hospital with an exacerbation and only 13% of eligible COPD patients are referred to pulmonary rehabilitation services (these aim to improve patient outcomes and quality of life in 90% of patients who complete a programme). The UK is also one of the worst-performing developed countries ranking 35 out of 37 for asthma deaths in the 5-to-34-year-age range.
NEW! Training Directory for respiratory disease specialty (published October 2023)
Respiratory teams are being impacted by changing patient demographics, workforce shortages, recruitment and seasonal pressures. The importance of providing respiratory education to frontline health workers is imperative to optimize patient support and improve outcomes.
A new training directory has been developed by the Long Term Conditions programme team, which is a centralised repository of career competencies and pathways, higher education resources and short courses, to help the NHS workforce develop a career in respiratory disease specialty and expand their clinical expertise. To view the training directory, please click here