Integrated respiratory care

Abstract

Integrated respiratory care is patient-centred, proactive and coordinated care delivered through clinical leadership and a multidisciplinary ‘team without walls’. It involves rethinking traditional boundaries and roles, and requires respiratory specialists to develop new skills in the management of both acute and long-term conditions through collaborative care. The aim of integrated respiratory care is to enhance the care and experience of the individual patient with a lung condition and to improve long-term outcomes for populations with respiratory disease. Integrated care is a central tenet of how systems will implement the respiratory elements of the NHS Long Term Plan. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the development of integrated care approaches to the multidisciplinary management of acute and chronic respiratory disease.