2025 has been one of the busiest and most successful years yet for the PRSAS programme, with incredible progress made by our community of services. 23% of registered services are now accredited, and a further 7% of registered services on track to be, pending successful deferral completion in the New Year. This is a significant increase from 2024, reflecting the dedication of our community.
Supporting our services
This year, we delivered 31 service training and support sessions and launched the RCP Community of Practice for PR, in partnership with the National Respiratory Audit Programme (NRAP). The community of practice has covered key topics such as healthcare inequality, access to PR, and clinical outcome measures, with the aim of encouraging discussion and resource sharing across the PR community. Have your say on 2026 topics!
We also hosted our annual face-to-face accreditation workshop in June and look forward to welcoming you again in May 2026, where the focus will be on the application of the new standards.
Raising awareness of PR
In June, we hosted an exciting Pulmonary Rehabilitation Awareness Week, focusing on improving access to PR. As part of the celebrations, we developed case studies from key stakeholders, showcasing innovative approaches to enhancing access and reducing health inequalities. We also held a community of practice session led by Rachel Williams, service lead from Cornwall PR Service, with 123 attendees. Rachel shared how the Cornwall PR Service is driving innovation to improve and encourage access to PR while working towards accreditation.
Staying relevant
Every five years, the accreditation unit programmes at the RCP review their accreditation standards, and in 2025, PRSAS underwent this process. Working with a highly engaged group of PR colleagues from across the UK and the ROI, we undertook a detailed review and agreed on changes following a public consultation period. The new standards were launched on 1 December 2025, and we look forward to supporting services both with assessments under the previous standards and with self-assessments under the new framework.
To make the accreditation journey smoother for services, we focused on developing a key document guidance resource for registered services, highlighting essential documents for the accreditation journey. With the launch of the new standards, we will now review and update the resource library to ensure you have everything you need for your self-assessment.
Engaging with the community
It’s been an exciting year for conferences, with attendance at ARNS, ACPRC, SPRAG, PCRS, and both the BTS Summer and Winter meetings. We were delighted to connect with so many of you and share our work through a series of posters at ACPRC and BTS Winter. These included:
˃ Understanding the pathway to accreditation for pulmonary rehabilitation
˃ Reflections from pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) services who have achieved PRSAS accreditation
˃ The impact of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Services Accreditation Scheme on key performance indicators.
Looking ahead
We look forward to continuing these engagements in 2026; stay connected with us through X and our newsletters for programme updates throughout the year.
Thank you for being part of this community – your commitment and hard work are truly making a difference.