Mobilising health professionals on air pollution

In December 2020, air pollution was included as a contributing cause of death in the heart-breaking case of nine-year old Ella Kissi-Debrah whose hospital admittance and asthmas attacks aligned with spikes in air pollution. The ‘Prevention of Future Deaths’ report that followed the inquest into Ella’s death called for more information about air pollution and its impact to be made available to the public and found ‘the adverse effects of air pollution on health are not being sufficiently communicated to patients and their carers by medical and nursing professionals’.

As part of their response to the Prevention of Future Death’s report, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) funded Global Action Plan (GAP) to address the coroner’s call for healthcare professionals to be educated on the impacts of air pollution. We have worked with Global Action Plan to deliver two pilot projects, funded by DEFRA, to mobilise respiratory and paediatric health professionals and general practitioners to provide advice about air pollution to patients.

The Mobilising National GPs project provided online teaching on the causes and health impacts of air pollution to 40 general practitioners across England. Co-design workshops with GPs and other health professionals provided insight into the structure, content and design of the teaching sessions and materials for patients. The insights and resources produced as outcomes from this project are available in the links below.