From Hospital to Community: Improving Healthcare from the Ground Up

It’s no secret that primary care is stretched to its limits. People are struggling to see their general practitioners (GPs), waiting times are only increasing and patient satisfaction is at an all-time low.[i] As of June 2024, over 1 million people were waiting for community care services and, of those, 50,000 had been waiting more than a year, 80% made up of children and young people1.

The Darzi report put it simply – too many people end up in hospital because too little is spent in the community. The proposed NHS 10-year plan seeks to address this in the shift from hospital to community where it is recognised that improving community-level healthcare is vital to the delivery of high-quality care, leading to fewer hospital admissions, earlier detection, improved health outcomes and stronger support networks within the community. 

Delivery of Best Practice Care

As we look to improve the delivery of care across the country, it’s imperative that we leverage our collective resource within the entire life sciences ecosystem so that innovation isn’t halted or siloed. Recent reports from the King’s Fund and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), highlight that partnerships with industry can bring significant benefits to patients, staff and overall healthcare systems by adopting resources, skills and expertise from industry into clinical practice.[ii],[iii]

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes guidelines outlining the delivery of best practice care, medical intervention and treatment for a variety of conditions to encourage national uptake of the latest innovations, but the infrastructure to support this isn’t equally distributed across the UK. At AstraZeneca, we know partnerships with industry are essential to the uptake of guidelines-based care, advancing community care and keeping patients out of hospital.  

In one example, we partnered with Hull University’s Teaching Hospital’s NHS Trust on SENTINEL, focused on optimising asthma care in Hull. The goal was to reduce over-reliance on reliever treatments which are known to be associated with an increased risk of asthma exacerbations and premature death. In this area, the use of reliever therapy or short acting beta agonist (SABA)/blue inhalers in primary care was amongst the highest in the country. Overuse of blue inhalers not only comes with a higher risk of attacks and premature death, but also has hugely negative impacts on the environment.

Our partnership sought to educate HCPs and patients on best practice care and prescribing practice to help reduce SABA prescribing and, in turn, asthma attacks and environmental impact. To date, over 44,000 fewer SABA inhalers have been prescribed, the number of patients experiencing one or more exacerbations has decreased by one third and we’ve saved 1,240 tonnes of eCO2.[iv],[v] The project is also be scaled across the country, with one third of England enrolled.

Partnering for a Healthier Nation

We recognise that as one of the leading Biopharmaceutical companies in the UK we have a responsibility to the healthcare system. We are proud to take an active role in investing in care closer to the community, helping to ease pressures and design sustainable methods for the provision of care. We forge regional partnerships to advance the way patients are diagnosed and treated, access the latest medical innovations and care pathways to implement change at a local level and then, importantly, take it to scale across the country – tackling areas that need it the most.  

We’ve already seen the effects that community partnerships can have. Our collaboration with Wirral & East Cheshire School Age Immunisation Services (SAIS) identified the need for additional support for parents to complete the consent process for their child to receive vaccination against influenza. By breaking down hesitation barriers and offering tailored support, this collaboration led to an additional 830 children being vaccinated across the target schools compared to the previous winter.

Another particularly innovative project designed to impact on community health is the implementation of England’s first community-based heart and lung screening hub which AstraZeneca has supported with a range of charity, NHS and academic organisations in Liverpool. (Note: AstraZeneca has provided grant funding towards this programme) Our Medical Director, Ed Piper, has shared more on this project and how it also supports a shift from sickness to prevention here. The outcomes speak for themselves. Of the 1,200 individuals screened 42 potential heart failure cases were detected, 28 were identified with atrial fibrillation and 420 had poorly controlled blood pressure[vi]. This has subsequently helped to alleviate pressure on regional public health services, saving the NHS approximately £110,000 to date[vii].

Building Happier, Stronger Communities

While we can’t change things overnight, one thing is for certain: a focus on community health and investment in local healthcare pathways and guideline-directed therapy will alleviate the pressure on vital resources by intervening early and initiating appropriate treatments plans. Our partnerships are a proven track record of the impact that investment in community care can have on patient outcomes and the sustainability of our healthcare system. By working together, we can ensure that the latest therapeutic advancements and best practices are accessible to everyone, ultimately leading to a healthier population.  

Date of preparation: June 2025

Veeva ID: GB-67860

 REFERENCES

[1] Independent Investigation of the National Health Service England. Available at: https: //   assets. publishing. service. gov. uk  / media /  66f42ae630536cb92748271f  /Lord-  Darzi-Independent-  Investigation- of- the- National- Health- Service- in- England- Updated- 25- September. pdf  Accessed  June 2025

2 The King’s Fund. NHS and life sciences industry partnerships: collaborating to improve care. Available at:  https: // www. kings fund. org. uk/ insight- and- analysis / reports/ nhs- life-sciences- industry- partnership- collaborating- improve- care Accessed June 2025

3 ABPI. Partnering for progress: a data-driven analysis of NHS-industry partnerships. Available at: https: // www . abpi. org. uk/ media/ ffcncgju / abpi_ cf_ strat_ partners_ publication. pdf Accessed June 2025

4 Hull York Medical School. Revolutionising asthma care cuts blue inhaler reliance and

carbon emissions. Available at:  https : // www. hyms . ac. uk/ research/ stories/ revolutionising-asthma- care- cuts- blue- inhaler- reliance- and- carbon- emissions

5 Michael G. Crooks, Lucia Crowther, Helena Cummings, Judith Cohen, Chao Huang, Lukas Pitel, Mark Pearson, Alyn Morice, John Turgoose, Shoaib Faruqi, Michael Watt, Tamsin Morris, Yang Xu. Improving asthma care through implementation of the SENTINEL programme: findings from the pilot site. ERJ Open Research. 2023;9:00685-2022. Accessed June 2025

6 Sankaranarayanan et al. Early Detection of Cardiorespiratory Diseases at Everton BEATBreathlessness Community Hub. J Am Coll Cardiol HF. 2025;13(3). 663-665.

7 Everton in the Community. EitC’s BEAT Breathlessness Hub Wins Prestigious HSJ Partnership Award. Available at:  https: // www. Everton in the community. org/ news / 2025/ march/ 24/ hsj-partnership-award-/