Dr. Abdul Ashish, Consultant Respiratory Physician at WWL
A pioneering community respiratory initiative delivered by Leigh Primary Care Network (PCN) in partnership with Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) is transforming care for local patients with lung conditions.
The clinic was first launched in July 2025 to tackle significant health inequalities. Public health data had identified specific areas in Leigh - including Higher Folds, Westleigh, and Plank Lane/Crankwood - as high-need hotspots suffering from higher rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, smoking, and emergency hospital visits. Across the wider area, elective respiratory referrals to secondary care had seen an unsustainable increase of up to 30%, resulting in longer waiting times for specialist reviews and routine diagnostics like spirometry.
To address these challenges, Leigh PCN and WWL created an integrated, local care model. Operating out of Bridgewater Medical Centre, the Tier 2 Community Respiratory Clinic has successfully cut hospital e-referrals by 23.2% over a 12-month period while recording zero hospital admissions among patients seen in the service.
Patients benefit from one-stop care, receiving holistic health checks, on-site diagnostic testing, medication optimisation, and direct connections to community services including pulmonary rehabilitation, smoking cessation, and weight management support.
Dr Abdul Ashish, Consultant Respiratory Physician at WWL, said: "This collaborative model demonstrates the power of bringing secondary care expertise directly into primary care settings. By providing timely, local interventions in areas with the greatest health needs, we are not only improving individual quality of life but also alleviating pressure across the entire local healthcare system."
Lead GP, Dr Greg Lears, who worked on developing the pilot with Dr Ashish, said: “I am very proud of what the Leigh PCN Respiratory Clinic has achieved so far. It is a great example of partnership working between primary and secondary care that we can now look to expand to other areas of the Borough. I’m very grateful to Dr Ashish and WWL for supporting this project, as well as all the staff at Leigh PCN who have helped make it a success”.
Key impacts to date:
- Patient feedback highlighted rapid appointments, reduced anxiety, and deep appreciation for receiving high-quality, specialist care close to home without travelling to hospital and Did Not Attend (DNA) rates fell below 4%.
- By treating complex and unstable respiratory conditions within the community, the clinic has significantly eased pressure on acute hospital services.
- None of the patients cared for by the clinic over the 12-month pilot period required non-elective hospital admission.
- Diagnostic waiting times were dramatically reduced, enabling early identification of critical conditions - including initiating anti-fibrotic treatment for Interstitial Lung Disease (IPF) and detecting a new lung cancer case early.
Following the overwhelming success in Leigh, healthcare leaders plan to scale this community respiratory clinic model across two other Primary Care Networks in the Wigan locality.