The Respiratory team at Castle Hill Hospital have been named finalists in prestigious awards held by the Royal College of Physicians for their work to help Hull people at risk of a serious lung disease.
The team has been nominated in the prestigious Excellence in Patient Care awards for their outstanding FRONTIER Hull project, helping to diagnose people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
FRONTIER Hull is a collaborative working project between NHS Humber Health Partnership and Chiesi UK – a biopharmaceutical group based in Manchester. It was launched three years ago after the team, led by Professor Mike Crooks, identified a significant gap in diagnosis among people at high risk of COPD despite Hull’s high rates of deprivation and smoking.
Since then, almost 500 people who didn’t know they had the condition have been diagnosed by the nurse-led service, including 18 with a severe or very severe form of the disease, enabling them to receive help, support and treatment.
Innovation Programme Manager Nick Deayton said: “We work with data to identify people without known COPD but who’ve had other respiratory symptoms, like emphysema, which have been picked up through Hull’s Lung Cancer Screening programme.
“We invite those people to a ‘one stop’ clinic for assessment and respiratory tests. This helps us diagnose those with COPD more quickly, giving people access to different treatments and support including help to stop smoking, pulmonary rehabilitation and medication to improve lung health and quality of life.”
As part of FRONTIER Hull, the team reviewed almost 1000 patients between September 2023 and April 2025, with COPD confirmed in 466 – 49 per cent. Four per cent were diagnosed with severe or very severe COPD.
Research Nurse Kayleigh Brindle said: “Many patients tell us they feel relieved and reassured after they come to us because they’ve been experiencing symptoms for quite some time. Patients also tell us they feel well supported and motivated to live healthier lives.”
The team is one of three finalists chosen by the RCP for the Sickness to Prevention category, with the winners announced at a ceremony in Liverpool on 9 July.