The challenge
Pharmaceutical companies play a vital role in the delivery of clinical homecare. This unique collaboration enables patients with complex or long-term conditions to receive specialist treatment safely in their own homes. Yet this investment, which supports over half a million patients annually, has long gone unrecognised in national policy and contracting decisions.
With NHS pressures mounting, and the sustainability of homecare under threat from fragmented funding and operational challenges, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) commissioned ZPB to help create a credible, evidence-led blueprint that would demonstrate the scale and impact of industry-funded homecare.
What we did
Our work began with a structured scoping process, bringing together ABPI members in facilitated workshops to define the shared ambition, refine key messages, and identify the audiences that mattered most. These sessions provided alignment across the sector and ensured the final outputs would speak directly to NHS and government stakeholders.
We then built a multi-dimensional evidence base, combining:
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Detailed industry data from over 60 pharmaceutical companies, showing a total annual investment of £173 million in clinical homecare, supporting 512,000+ patients.
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Independent outcomes analysis in partnership with Medway Maritime Hospital and Kent and Medway ICB, which found that homecare patients had 50% fewer A&E attendances and hospital admissions, with an average of 2.4 fewer bed days per patient — equating to a £770,000 saving in a single cohort and an extrapolated £1.67 billion potential annual saving across the UK.
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A nationwide NHS workforce survey of 124 professionals, revealing that:
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92% said homecare increases NHS capacity
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90% said it delivers financial savings
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71% said it improves access to care
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Yet 49% feared fewer patients would receive care if the funding came solely from the NHS
We used this evidence to create the resulting report: Bringing Healthcare Home: A Blueprint for Collaborative Clinical Homecare. The report included key recommendations for the future including centralised contracting, digitisation, greater provider competition, and more flexible care design.
The impact
This is the first time the pharmaceutical sector’s contribution to homecare has been quantified and the first time that health outcomes of homecare have been evidenced. While the campaign is still in its early stages, the report has:
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Provided ABPI members with a shared, data-rich narrative to support national advocacy
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Created a platform for policy engagement on sustainable funding, digital integration, and contracting reform
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Laid the foundation for broader recognition of the industry’s role in delivering out-of-hospital care aligned with NHS priorities
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ZPB continues to work with stakeholders in homecare, making the case for a service which truly delivers the ambition of hospital to community.
“ZPB collaborated extensively, with the ABPI, manufacturers and the NHS to understand, source and evidence the role of homecare and the benefits it can bring to patients, the NHS and society in the ABPI report: ‘Bringing healthcare home: A blueprint for collaborative clinical homecare.
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“This report and supporting communication tools outline how homecare can be further improved, in collaboration with manufacturers, homecare providers and the NHS, to ensure patients get the best treatment possible.”
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Ross Maclagan, Distribution and Supply Chain Policy Manager at the ABPI