Five-year-old boy breathing into a spirometer.
Late diagnosis, inconsistent treatment and inadequate patient support have created a “lung health crisis” that’s costing the U.K. hundreds of millions of pounds every year, a report has found.
Standardizing care and improving education for self-managed conditions could save the country more than £700 million ($860 million) a year, according to the Price Waterhouse Cooper report commissioned by charity Asthma and Lung U.K.
Better care could see patients stay healthier for longer and reduce pressure on the country’s public health system, the National Health System, the report claims.
The NHS itself could save around £300 million ($370 million) in direct costs, while the wider economy could benefit from nearly £400 million in higher productivity, it states.
Inconsistent care across the country
The analysis highlighted inconsistencies in both diagnosis and treatment of lung conditions in different parts of the country.
Not all family doctors provide “fractional exhaled nitric oxide” tests, for example, which can help accurately diagnose asthma. And many patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are missing out on spirometry tests that can help manage their condition.
“Local disagreements about funding and commissioning” meant thousands of patients were missing out on these simple tests, the report states.
This means doctors may end up making educated guesses based on factors like listening to a patients’ breathing.
Providing these tests consistently across the U.K. could result in £160 million ($200 million) in combined savings, in part because it means doctors can make more informed treatment decisions.
If every COPD patient eligible for spirometry tests accessed them, the NHS could save 63,273 hospital bed days, the report found.
The charity recommended providing better education and annual lung reviews for people who self-manage their conditions, and widening access to treatments like pulmonary rehabilitation and biologic asthma treatments for eligible patients.
Poor track record on lung health
It’s not just access to diagnosis and treatment that varies across the country. The report found drastic variation in health outcomes, with more deprived areas showing higher rates of emergency admissions for lung conditions and worth death rates than richer parts of the country.
The U.K. has a relatively poor track record on lung health. It has the worst mortality rate for lung conditions in Europe and has seen a lack of progress on lung illness compared to other major killers like cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Lung conditions remain the country’s third biggest killer, with the north of the country worst affected.
‘Abysmal lack of testing’
Asthma and Lung UK chief executive Sarah Woolnough said in a statement: “The abysmal lack of testing, and patchy basic care, is causing avoidable harm to people with lung conditions — and the NHS.”
Clinical lead, Dr Andrew Whittamore said that family doctors struggled to provide the best care for patients for reasons including a lack of funding, staffing and even space to perform tests.
He added: “For people with lung conditions, it means delays to their diagnosis and sometimes progression of their lung disease to more advanced stages, which can make treatment more challenging.”
The country has made progress in some areas of lung care, however, rolling out scans for lung cancer in supermarket parking lots to help meet rising demand.
It’s also seen smoking rates fall markedly over the last decade.