By Mark Sullivan 
In the 30 days between 21 September and 20 October, the activity of UK HCPs discussing respiratory disease online was tracked by CREATION Pinpoint®, with 3,682 mentions being found in that time period. This was an increase of over 1,000 posts from the previous month by more than 300 additional authors. Within this conversation the most frequent poster was ‘Head of Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme’ Sara Nelson, who incredibly managed to post 649 posts this month; over 20 posts a day.
This month UK HCPs were most active on 04 October, posting about respiratory diseases 325 times. This aligned with the #askaboutasthma annual campaign which “highlights the simple changes to children and young people’s care that will make a big difference to how they experience their asthma”. Over 200 posts on this day alone included the hashtag with different focuses including inhaler technique, adherence and education and the ‘four asks’. Elsewhere within the online asthma conversation a useful video from GP Amir Khan explained the mechanisms of asthma which received widespread attention.
A 90 second explainer of asthma using a bedsheet roll and some tissue paper!
Asthma is so common, many of us have it or know someone with it
Hope this is useful x pic.twitter.com/BDXe48SkWZ
— Dr Amir Khan GP (@DrAmirKhanGP) September 22, 2022
Throughout September and October many UK HCPs shared the personal struggles they had been experiencing within the NHS recently. Problems including “inhuman” wait times for patients trying to be admitted to hospitals were cited, as were issues with the retention of the NHS patient-facing workforce, particularly nurses, who were burning out and leaving the healthcare system. This was a particular worry for HCPs who were looking ahead to the winter months and the oncoming wave of respiratory disease patients.
Patients currently waiting 18+ hours stuck in back of ambulances OUTSIDE hospitals.
Patients who *already* waited ++ hours for ambulance to reach them.
Patients with chest pain, respiratory failure, stroke.
Patients sick enough to die.
It is barbaric, inhuman & happening now.
— Dr Rachel Clarke (@doctor_oxford) September 28, 2022
In last month’s Respiratory tracker the relationship between the living crisis and health crisis was shown within the context of respiratory disease and this month a similar theme has also emerged. Towards the end of September shocking findings from Asthma + lung UK showed that 15% of responders to their survey had reduced inhaler use to make them last longer in response to the cost of living crisis. This has unfortunately led to more than one million people in the UK experiencing life-threatening asthma attacks, an increase in the demand for Asthma + lung uk services as well as the impact the cost of living crisis has had on the mental health and wellbeing for people with long-term lung conditions.
Each month, we track the HCP conversation relating to respiratory disease.
You can keep up to date with this and other pharmaceutical tracking updates, including COVID-19 developments, within the Tracking section of CREATION Knowledge, or sign up to receive our monthly eJournal with all of our latest HCP insights.
If you would like to dig deeper into what we have seen this month then please do get in touch.
Methodology
- This article analysed the Twitter conversations of HCPs in the UK discussing respiratory disease and related terms between 21 September and 20 October 2022 using CREATION Pinpoint®.
- Between 21 September and 20 October 2022, there were 3,682 UK HCP mentions of respiratory disease and related terms, from 1,452 unique UK HCP authors.
View the latest Respiratory Tracker here
