PCRS launches Blueprint for Neighbourhood Health in COPD to support local transformation of respiratory care

United Kingdom, 26 August 2026 - The Primary Care Respiratory Society (PCRS) has launched its new Blueprint for Neighbourhood Health in COPD, providing healthcare systems, commissioners, primary care teams and local partners with a practical framework for designing and delivering neighbourhood-based care for people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The blueprint has been developed in response to the growing national focus on Neighbourhood Health and the NHS ambition to shift care from hospital to community, sickness to prevention, and analogue to digital. It aims to demonstrate how integrated neighbourhood-based approaches can improve outcomes for people with COPD while tackling wider health inequalities and reducing avoidable pressure on healthcare services.

COPD remains one of the leading causes of ill health, emergency hospital admissions and premature mortality in the UK. However, many of the factors affecting outcomes extend beyond healthcare itself, including housing quality, social isolation, access to transport, employment, financial hardship and health literacy. The PCRS blueprint recognises that addressing these wider determinants of health is essential if neighbourhood health models are to achieve their full potential.

The blueprint sets out a clear and practical model that local systems can adapt according to their population needs. The model proposes clear points of contact pre and post diagnosis, early and accurate diagnosis, collaborative and personalised care planning and better coordination between healthcare providers, local authorities, social care and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations. Successful implementation of the model will require adequate funding, access to diagnostics, community respiratory services, multidisciplinary team (MDT) infrastructure and clear referral pathways.

A blueprint for action

While developed using COPD as an exemplar long-term condition, PCRS believes the principles within the blueprint are applicable across a wide range of neighbourhood health initiatives.

The blueprint is intended not simply as a vision document, but as a practical tool that Integrated Care Systems, Primary Care Networks, neighbourhood teams, local authorities and community partners can adapt to their local population needs. It provides a structure for identifying local priorities, bringing stakeholders together, understanding population health data and creating coordinated neighbourhood health programmes that improve outcomes and reduce inequalities.

Alongside the blueprint, PCRS has also established a Neighbourhood Health repository, showcasing examples of innovative practice from across the UK. Together, these resources provide organisations with both the strategic framework and practical examples needed to initiate and develop their own neighbourhood health projects.

•    Using COPD to demonstrate best neighbourhood health and outcomes: https://www.pcrs-uk.org/using-copd-demonstrate-best-neighbourhood-health-and-outcomes 

Key actions for healthcare commissioners

PCRS is calling on commissioners and system leaders to:

• Invest in neighbourhood-based respiratory services that support prevention, early diagnosis and proactive management of COPD. 
• Support the development of community wellness and diagnostic hubs, including access to high-quality diagnostics such as spirometry.
• Enable shared care planning, integrated records and effective data-sharing across health, social care and community services. 
• Use population health management approaches to identify unmet need, target inequalities and evaluate impact.
• Ensure neighbourhood health programmes are adequately resourced and supported by sustainable commissioning arrangements.
• Promote collaboration between NHS organisations, local authorities, VCSE organisations and communities to address wider determinants of health.
• Expand access to smoking cessation support, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), vaccination programmes and self-management resources.

Key actions for primary care services

PCRS is also encouraging primary care teams to:

• Identify local respiratory champions and strengthen respiratory expertise within neighbourhood teams. 
  Adopt personalised, collaborative care planning for people with COPD from the point of diagnosis onwards. 
• Improve case finding and support earlier diagnosis through targeted population health approaches.
• Build stronger multidisciplinary working relationships with community, social care, local authority and VSCE partners.
• Ensure people with suspected or diagnosed COPD have a clear point of contact and coordinated access to the services and support they need.

Looking ahead

The launch of the PCRS Blueprint for Neighbourhood Health in COPD marks an important step in helping local systems translate national neighbourhood health ambitions into practical action. By bringing together healthcare, social care, public health, local authorities, employers, VCSE organisations and communities, the blueprint demonstrates how a more integrated and person-centred model of care can improve outcomes for people living with COPD while supporting wider NHS reform objectives.

PCRS hopes the blueprint will act as both a guide and a catalyst, helping local organisations develop their own neighbourhood health programmes and accelerate the shift towards more proactive, coordinated and community-based care.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• The Primary Care Respiratory Society UK (PCRS) is the UK’s leading and longest-established professional society dedicated to improving respiratory care in primary, community, and integrated care settings.
• PCRS educates and supports healthcare professionals working in primary and community settings by providing easy access to evidence-based clinical guidance and best practice resources on all aspects of common respiratory conditions seen in primary care.
• PCRS advocates and campaigns to inform and influence respiratory healthcare policy, and to set standards in the management of respiratory medicine in out-of-hospital settings. 
• PCRS promotes and disseminates real-life respiratory research as part of its policy and educational activities. 
• PCRS represents clinicians across primary and community care and works closely with NHS England and national programmes to support best practice.

The full blueprint is available below.

Contact: 01675 477600, Email info@pcrs-uk.org, Website: www.pcrs-uk.org