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It is no secret that lung health is in crisis in this country. While there has been a dedicated focus on improving cardiovascular and cancer care, respiratory has lagged, and it is the three million people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the UK (Whittaker et al, 2025) who are bearing the brunt of this as they struggle to get a diagnosis and optimum care.
Fewer than one in 10 people with COPD (8.8%) surveyed by charity Asthma + Lung UK are receiving the 'five fundamentals' of care recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, 2019; Asthma + Lung UK, 2025a). This includes smoking cessation, vaccination, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), personalised self-management planning and optimised treatment for comorbidities.
