Rise in pneumonia hospitalisations prompts call for improved community support

A surge in pneumonia hospital admissions has seen a leading charity demand greater focus on basic care provision for people with lung conditions in community settings, including GP practices.

More than 579,000 people in England were admitted to hospital with pneumonia in 2024-25 compared with almost 462,000 in 2022-23, representing a 25% rise in just two years, according to new analysis by Asthma + Lung UK.

The charity has highlighted figures from NHS England showing that pneumonia now leads to more emergency hospital admissions than any other condition, with over twice as many cases than sepsis or heart failure.

Between April 2022 and March 2025, more than 97,000 patients died after being hospitalised with the infection, according to the analysis.

Asthma + Lung UK insisted that many of the hospitalisations were preventable and linked the rise to a lack of basic care for people with chronic lung conditions such as asthma, COPD and bronchiectasis.

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These groups are significantly more likely to catch pneumonia and to become seriously ill when infected, the charity said.

Dr Andy Whittamore, Asthma + Lung UK’s clinical lead and a practising GP, said: ‘These alarming figures are the result of respiratory care being neglected and deprioritised for too long.

‘Catching pneumonia is often seen as inevitable, but we forget that most people who are hospitalised with the condition have pre-existing conditions such as COPD.’

According to Asthma + Lung UK, action plans, annual reviews and vaccinations are essential in keeping patients well, but remain inconsistent across the system.

A recent survey by the charity found that just 32% of people with asthma and 8.8% of people with COPD were receiving all recommended elements of basic care.

Asthma + Lung UK also pointed to low vaccine coverage. The analysis found that only 47.5% of people aged two to 64 in clinical at-risk groups had received the pneumococcal vaccine in 2024-25.

The charity’s chief executive, Sarah Sleet, believes the current approach is failing patients and contributing to increased strain on the NHS.

‘Too many people with lung conditions go from crisis point to crisis point,’ she said.

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‘If the government is serious about moving from sickness to prevention, urgent change is desperately needed to fix a broken system that leaves people relying on emergency care.’

The charity said an ‘important step to halting the rise in pneumonia cases is to focus on better basic care provision for people with lung conditions in community settings, like GP practices’.

This would ensure patients are given the right support to manage their conditions independently and lessen their risk of catching pneumonia – aligning with the government’s aim to shift from sickness to prevention, it added.

The charity also pointed to inequalities in hospitalisation risk, with people living in the most deprived areas found to be 36% more likely to be admitted with pneumonia.

Contributing factors include higher exposure to poor housing, air pollution and lower access to good preventative care.

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The charity is calling for a national respiratory strategy in England, in line with the government’s 10-year health plan.

While strategies have been developed for other major conditions, such as mental health and cancer, lung health remains without a dedicated national framework, Asthma + Lung UK observed.

‘These findings should be a wake-up call that we need a national strategy for lung health to reduce hospital cases for illnesses like pneumonia and ensure everyone with a lung condition gets the support they deserve,’ Ms Sleet added.