This website is intended for UK healthcare professionals only
SPECTRA HELPS YOU IDENTIFY & REFER PATIENTS WITH SUSPECTED SEVERE ASTHMA
Patients with severe asthma may be slipping through the net in primary care
SPECTRA Donated Service Programme is funded by AstraZeneca & developed in collaboration with NHS England (NHSE) hosted Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC)
Recommended by the Health Innovation Network: Better outcomes for asthma patients and the planet
SPECTRA Donated Service Programme is funded by AstraZeneca & developed in collaboration with NHS England (NHSE) hosted Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC)
Recommended by the Health Innovation Network: Better outcomes for asthma patients and the planet
SPECTRA AT A GLANCE
Integrated clinical system resources that involve no external software or processing of patient identifiable data.
Compatible with EMIS Web, SystmOne and Vision.
Once patients have been identified through SPECTRA, clinicians can conduct an asthma structured medication review using the template provided (England only; funded by Oxford & Thames Valley Health Innovation and Guys NHS Foundation Trust)
Find your patients through
pre-created searches
SPECTRA Search Rationale
Triggered when accessing electronic records
SPECTRA Alert Rationale
Auto-populated uncontrolled asthma referral form
SPECTRA Example Form
SPECTRA AT A GLANCE
Integrated clinical system resources that involve no external software or processing of patient identifiable data.
Compatible with EMIS Web, SystmOne and Vision.
Once patients have been identified through SPECTRA, clinicians can conduct an asthma structured medication review using the template provided (England only; funded by Oxford & Thames Valley Health Innovation and Guys NHS Foundation Trust)
Find your patients through
pre-created searches
SPECTRA Search Rationale
Triggered when accessing electronic records
SPECTRA Alert Rationale
Auto-populated uncontrolled asthma referral form
SPECTRA Example Form
Access SPECTRA
for Practices
Register for SPECTRA access HERE
Access SPECTRA
for Systems
SPECTRA @ Scale and the Action Learning Programme support a population health approach for ICB/UHB/LCG/HSCPs
Learn more and register HEREWHAT HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS SAY ABOUT SPECTRA
"Benchmarking all the practices in the PCN has enabled more focused respiratory reviews and allowed the PCN to plan more clinics in areas of health inequality and improve access to specialist treatment."
Nipa Patel
Lead PCN Pharmacist - Sasse Network 2
"I found the SPECTRA searches and alerts very easy to upload and run in our GP clinical systems and the resources have been invaluable in identifying potential severe asthma patients for my advanced respiratory clinics."
Nipa Patel
Lead PCN Pharmacist - Sasse Network 2
"Referring patients with suspected severe asthma using the SPECTRA template ensured all the relevant information was included, thus reducing the delay in patients receiving specialist care."
Nipa Patel
Lead PCN Pharmacist - Sasse Network 2
"Through the Spectra Action Learning Programme, our clinical teams are now fully equipped to use the searches, alerts, and referral form effectively.
They have also begun utilising the reporting functionality, enabling us as a PCN to measure the impact of our work and drive continuous quality improvements that directly enhance patient care.
Working alongside the local severe asthma team has been invaluable, we have learnt more about the patient referral pathway, treatments and services.
I feel overall this will help us to improve asthma-related outcomes across our network."
Jacob Blunt
Walsall East PCN2 - Digital Lead
"SPECTRA is now getting the recognition it deserves as a tool that has simplified a structured approach to identifying and referring people living with uncontrolled and severe asthma, and it has been disseminated across primary, secondary, and tertiary care."
Beverley Bostock
Lead Asthma Lead - Association of Respiratory Nurses
"Benchmarking all the practices in the PCN has enabled more focused respiratory reviews and allowed the PCN to plan more clinics in areas of health inequality and improve access to specialist treatment."
Nipa Patel
Lead PCN Pharmacist - Sasse Network 2
"I found the SPECTRA searches and alerts very easy to upload and run in our GP clinical systems and the resources have been invaluable in identifying potential severe asthma patients for my advanced respiratory clinics."
Nipa Patel
Lead PCN Pharmacist - Sasse Network 2
"Referring patients with suspected severe asthma using the SPECTRA template ensured all the relevant information was included, thus reducing the delay in patients receiving specialist care."
Nipa Patel
Lead PCN Pharmacist - Sasse Network 2
"Through the Spectra Action Learning Programme, our clinical teams are now fully equipped to use the searches, alerts, and referral form effectively.
They have also begun utilising the reporting functionality, enabling us as a PCN to measure the impact of our work and drive continuous quality improvements that directly enhance patient care.
Working alongside the local severe asthma team has been invaluable, we have learnt more about the patient referral pathway, treatments and services.
I feel overall this will help us to improve asthma-related outcomes across our network."
Jacob Blunt
Walsall East PCN2 - Digital Lead
"SPECTRA is now getting the recognition it deserves as a tool that has simplified a structured approach to identifying and referring people living with uncontrolled and severe asthma, and it has been disseminated across primary, secondary, and tertiary care."
Beverley Bostock
Lead Asthma Lead - Association of Respiratory Nurses
"Benchmarking all the practices in the PCN has enabled more focused respiratory reviews and allowed the PCN to plan more clinics in areas of health inequality and improve access to specialist treatment."
Nipa Patel
Lead PCN Pharmacist - Sasse Network 2
PRIMARY CARE PLAYS AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN A COMPLEX CONDITION
Some facts you may not know about severe asthma:
- 1 in 13 patients with asthma in UK primary care has potential severe asthma, which is difficult to manage with optimised asthma maintenance therapy1
- Every year, a patient with severe asthma will typically experience 4 asthma attacks and receive 4 courses of systemic corticosteroids, which may have serious adverse effects2, 3
- Patients with uncontrolled severe eosinophilic asthma have 4x more asthma-related GP appointments per year than the average for patients with asthma and may benefit from treatments only available in specialist care4
- According to a cohort study, only 28% of patients with potential severe asthma in UK primary care had been reviewed by, or referred to, a specialist in the 12 months prior to the study1
- 80% of UK patients who may benefit from a biologic treatment for severe asthma are currently not accessing treatment5*
1. Ryan D. et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2021;9:1612–23. 2. Jackson D.J. et al. Thorax. 2021;76:220–227. 3. Price D.B. et al. J Asthma Allergy. 2018;11:193–204. 4. Kerkhof M. et al. Thorax. 2018;73:116–24. 5. Dhruve H. et al. P193 Quantifying the unmet needin severe asthma: An analysis of the number of untreated biologic eligible patients in the UK. Thorax. 2022;77:A185. *Data from a single primary care network (PCN) in London [Population of 53k, 4.6% adults with asthma, 2022]
THE BENEFITS OF SPECTRA REPORTING
SPECTRA reports and dashboards support effective resource allocation and can demonstrate SPECTRA’s impact in your practice, PCN or ICB (or equivalent in the devolved nations).
CLICK BELOW TO VIEW EXAMPLE
Healthcare Economy Level Reporting
Dashboards across the healthcare economy enable benchmarking within participating healthcare organisations to share best practice.
Equivalent healthcare economy level dashboards will be available for the devolved nations.
CLICK BELOW TO VIEW EXAMPLES
Using SPECTRA in over 30 practices has helped healthcare professionals in Staffordshire identify 120 new patients with severe asthma in 12 months.
PRAISED BY SPECIALISTS
PATIENT CASE STUDIES
CONSIDER REACHING OUT TO A RESPIRATORY SPECIALIST
Choose a respiratory specialist from the Expert on Demand programme who will guide you in identifying and managing your uncontrolled asthma patients.
Over 350 healthcare professionals attended a non-promotional severe asthma Expert on Demand meeting in 2024.
- Over 12 experts are available to choose from
- Select the date and time that suits you
- 30-minute live presentation with Q&A
- Content is non-promotional and CPD certified
- Expert on Demand is fully funded by AstraZeneca
SPECTRA has been developed on behalf of AstraZeneca by Oberoi Consulting.
Registrations, technical support and training is managed by Oberoi Consulting as the SPECTRA Support Team.
Oberoi Consulting has been working across healthcare and the NHS for over 20 years.
FAQS
No, AstraZeneca does not see or receive any patient identifiable data.
SPECTRA can be accessed by GPs, practice nurses, managers, administrative staff and other healthCare professionals (HCPs) in GP practices. It is only available to UK-based practices who have access to EMIS Web, SystmOne or Vision.
SPECTRA can also be accessed by HCPs at PCN or ICB level (or equivalents in the devolved nations), enabling access to dashboards across the healthcare economy. These can be used for benchmarking, sharing best practice, and guiding targeted interventions.
The resources will be available immediately following HCP registration and account approval (within 1 hour on working days)
SPECTRA has been developed to be used by individual GP practices.
SPECTRA @ Scale enables larger systems (ICBs, UHBs, LCGs and HSCPs) to deploy SPECTRA across practices within their local healthcare economy, supporting a population health approach.
The Action Learning Programme is available to ICBs, UHBs, LCGs and HSCPs implementing SPECTRA @ Scale. Through educational sessions, it supports healthcare professionals to make the most of SPECTRA resources to improve the quality of care for patients with uncontrolled asthma.
The SPECTRA Search Rationale is available to download at the top of this page, under ‘Searches’.
SPECTRA been tested and validated in UK practices, and over 700 practices have run SPECTRA searches.
Individual NHS organisations must request access by registering on the SPECTRA website.
If you have any technical difficulties, you can contact the SPECTRA Support Team at Oberoi Consulting, who developed SPECTRA on behalf of AstraZeneca. The contact details are listed at the bottom of this page.
If you have other questions about using SPECTRA, you can contact AstraZeneca’s non-promotional SPECTRA team at spectrainfo@astrazeneca.com.
SPECTRA AT SCALE & ACTION LEARNING PROGRAMME
The SPECTRA At Scale & Action Learning Programme is available for ICBs, UHBs, LCGs & HSCPs that wish to deploy SPECTRA across practices within their local healthcare economy, enabling a population health approach to uncontrolled asthma.
The Action Learning element of the programme aims to improve the quality of care for patients with uncontrolled asthma by equipping healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills to utilise all of the SPECTRA resources and address quality improvement challenges.
Job Code: GB-63122 | Date of Prep: December 2025
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