“
We found that working with Health Innovation
Yorkshire & Humber gave us a link with key people within the NHS as for a commercial organisation is sometimes more difficult to liaise with the NHS directly , but this way of working was like a seamless conduit and has helped to place more FeNO devices where most needed .”
Steven Adair , Business Manager UK ,
FeNO by NIOX
Proven technological innovation for asthma care
Asthma Biologics work in a targeted way , by disrupting pathways causing airways inflammation , helping to manage symptoms and reduce exacerbations .
We helped the uptake and spread of this innovation by providing primary care with access to educational resources , patient information , and tools such as SPECTRA - Astra Zeneca ’ s audit tool - and UNITE service to help identify and stratify uncontrolled asthmatic patients .
These therapies can transform patients ’ lives by reducing long-term side effects of other treatments , such as steroids , and reduce the number of life-threatening asthma attacks .
As a result of the work undertaken within all three of Yorkshire and Humber ’ s severe asthma centres in Sheffield , Leeds and Hull , from April 2021 to February 2023 we have seen a 32 % increase in the number of severe asthma patients being treated with biologics .
Working closely with all three of our region ’ s Respiratory Clinical Networks , the three severe asthma centres , and lead clinicians we held two webinars bringing together more than 170 health and care professionals across all the three ICS footprints to share examples of best practice . We also facilitated a specific webinar on biologic therapies introducing the concept of a Yorkshire-wide consensus pathway for uncontrolled asthma in adults . An interesting outcome was a discussion around the possibility of introducing the homecare monitoring tool for those patients being treated within the community .
Making asthma literature equitable
As a result of our work spreading the adoption of asthma biologics through the AAC Rapid Uptake Products programme , we became aware of an opportunity to work with Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust to help improve access to asthma services for underserved communities . We were successful in applying and securing AAC ’ s Pathway Transformation Funding for £ 140k .
The funds helped to support ‘ The Straight Talking : Making health literature equitable ’ project led by the trust . We worked in partnership with them and with local third sector organisations . The initiative was designed to work within South Asian communities and help to address some of the myths and stigma attached to this
27 Transforming Lives Through Innovation