Respiratory Transformation Partnership

NEIGHBOURHOOD COPD AND ASTHMA

Respiratory disease is the third leading cause of death in the UK, contributing to more than 700,000 hospital admissions and around six million inpatient bed days each year - the vast majority of them unplanned.^1,2 Approximately one in five people will be affected by a respiratory condition during their lifetime, with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among the most common long-term respiratory conditions.¹

Respiratory disease disproportionately affects people living in the most deprived communities, widening existing health inequalities.³

The Respiratory Transformation Partnership (RTP) brings together NHS England, the Office for Life Sciences, 15 Health Innovation Networks and four leading pharmaceutical companies - Chiesi, AstraZeneca, GSK and Sanofi - to improve respiratory outcomes for all communities through earlier diagnosis and better access to care.

The programme is chaired by the National Clinical Director for Respiratory Disease, and co‑developed and delivered by Health Innovation Oxford & Thames Valley on behalf of the Health Innovation Network. It is designed to support delivery of the Government’s Ten-Year Health Plan, shifting respiratory care from hospital wards into local communities. RTP is backed by a broad coalition of clinical, academic and patient organisations, including Asthma + Lung UK, the Primary Care Respiratory Society, the British Thoracic Society, the National Respiratory Audit Programme, the Association of Respiratory Nurses and NICE.

The programme aims to reduce premature mortality, acute admissions and hospital emergency department attendances by shifting from crisis‑driven care to proactive, equitable and data‑enabled models of delivery - demonstrating how the NHS and industry can work together to deliver innovation at scale.

The RTP project is currently underway. We will update this page when further insights become available.

Please click below to read the executive summaries of the RTP project.