Warning issued by PCRS over loss of respiratory leadership threatening NHS care, innovation and patient outcomes

Category
Press Release

United Kingdom, 1st June 2026

The Primary Care Respiratory Society UK (PCRS) is calling for urgent action to protect respiratory services across England.

The PCRS has today issued a strong warning that the widespread loss of respiratory clinical leadership across the NHS is putting patient care, service innovation and health equity at serious risk.

In a new position statement (see below), PCRS highlights a growing erosion of respiratory leadership and expertise across Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), regional NHS teams and Primary Care Networks (PCNs) – at the same time as national policy expects primary care to deliver more complex respiratory care closer to home.

PCRS warns that this cumulative loss of leadership is undermining service quality and safety, stalling much‑needed innovation, and driving increasing and unacceptable variation in respiratory care across England.

Respiratory disease remains one of the leading causes of hospital admissions, long‑term illness and health inequality in the UK. Yet PCRS reports that many areas have seen dedicated respiratory leadership roles downgraded, merged or removed entirely, leaving systems without the clinical expertise needed to design, oversee and improve services.

Dr Steve Holmes, PCRS Policy Lead, Primary Care Respiratory Society UK, said: “Respiratory care does not deliver itself. It requires skilled clinical leadership to plan services, support primary care teams, drive innovation and ensure patient safety. That leadership is disappearing across ICBs, regions and PCNs, and patients will pay the price if this is not urgently addressed.”

The position statement describes how the loss of respiratory leadership is already leading to:

  • Fragmented and inconsistent care pathways
  • Reduced focus on prevention and long‑term condition management
  • Stalling of community respiratory services and diagnostic transformation
  • Weakening of clinical networks and multidisciplinary collaboration
  • Growing unwarranted variation in access to essential respiratory services

At the same time, the NHS 10 year Health Plan: Fit for the Future (https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-term-plan/) places increasing responsibility on primary care and PCNs to deliver earlier diagnosis, proactive management, post‑exacerbation follow‑up and rehabilitation for people with respiratory disease — often without adequate funding, training, diagnostic access or specialist support.

PCRS emphasises that while the Society welcomes its involvement in the national Respiratory Transformation Partnership (https://www.healthinnovationoxford.org/clinical-priorities/respiratory/…), transformation cannot succeed without empowered respiratory leadership at local and regional level.

Darush Attar-Zadeh, Chair of the PCRS Executive added: “We are delighted to have a seat at the table of the Respiratory Transformation Partnership, and we fully support its ambition. But transformation cannot be delivered in boardrooms alone. It requires visible, credible respiratory leadership on the ground – regionally and locally – to design, drive and implement change. Without that, innovation will stall and inequalities will widen”

The Society is calling on NHS England, regional teams and ICBs to take urgent action, including:

  • Reinstating and prioritising respiratory clinical leadership roles across ICBs, regions and PCNs
  • Embedding respiratory expertise in commissioning and pathway design

Investing in primary care respiratory training and workforce development

  • Matching the shift of care into the community with appropriate funding, diagnostics and infrastructure
  • Acting decisively to reduce unwarranted variation in access to respiratory services

PCRS warns that without swift intervention, respiratory care in England risks becoming less safe, less effective and less equitable — with avoidable exacerbations, hospital admissions and poorer long‑term outcomes for patients.

Darush Attar Zadeh concluded: “Respiratory disease already places a huge burden on patients, families and the NHS. Losing the leadership needed to improve care is not a false economy – it is a serious risk to population health. PCRS stands ready to work with system leaders to rebuild respiratory leadership and ensure patients receive the high‑quality care they deserve”

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Notes to Editors: About PCRS

  • 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 position statement is available below.
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PCRS Position Statement: Serious Concerns Regarding the Erosion of Respiratory Leadership and Expertise Across ICBs, Regions and Primary Care Networks

The Primary Care Respiratory Society UK (PCRS) is increasingly alarmed by the widespread and accelerating loss of respiratory leadership, expertise and strategic capacity across Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), regional NHS structures, and Primary Care Networks (PCNs).