Supporting Respiratory Care
We support the delivery of high-quality respiratory care throughout the UK by highlighting innovative models of care and good practice, sharing experiences, and providing opportunities to debate and learn.
Find links to information related to the delivery of care below.
Respiratory Support Units (RSU)
The British Thoracic Society and Intensive Care Society have worked together to produce a guidance document outlining the standards of care and infrastructure for RSUs.
Read more about Respiratory Support Units
Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Virtual Wards
Virtual wards are seen as one practical solution to help the NHS cope with its current shortage of beds. Alongside frailty, virtual wards dedicated to looking after people with acute respiratory infection (ARI) are being widely developed in England.
Coding and Tariffs
Accurate coding is vital for ensuring respiratory services receive appropriate resources, and clinicians should engage with coding to enhance their practice.
Read about coding respiratory care
Listen to our podcast on coding on Respiratory Futures
Optimal Sleep Pathway
Sleep medicine services across the UK are experiencing significant challenges with rising referrals, a significant backlog and workforce shortages. The Optimal Sleep Pathway, published by the British Sleep Society, provides helpful guidance on how to improve sleep services, regardless of what level of development the services are currently in.
Access the Optimal Sleep Pathway
Respiratory Transformation Partnership
The Respiratory Transformation Partnership (RTP) is a national £10 million programme designed to transform how asthma and COPD care is delivered - reducing emergency admissions, supporting earlier identification of at-risk patients and shifting care closer to the communities where people live.
Working across neighbourhood-based models, the RTP aims to accelerate access to diagnostics, innovative and digital tools, reduce inappropriate prescribing of oral corticosteroids and support more consistent, evidence-based care. It directly supports the NHS's strategic shifts: from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and treatment to prevention.
The RTP is led by Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley on behalf of the Health Innovation Network. It brings together a unique coalition of NHS, government, industry, academic, patient and third-sector organisations.
Elective Care Respiratory Programme
If you work in respiratory services, this national programme offers practical resources to help you reduce referral to treatment times and improve elective pathways for sleep, breathlessness and chronic cough.
NHS England has commissioned Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley to lead the programme, which supports providers to address unwarranted variation and strengthen multidisciplinary working across primary and secondary care. Each workstream is supported by clinical leads, with health innovation networks available to support pathway change.
Resources, including best practice pathways, business case templates, models of care and referral optimisation tools, are available for any trust or system to use, and will be added to as the programme develops.
You can find more resources and stories associated with the delivery of care on our Respiratory Futures website.