Excellence in Healthcare Partnership Awards – A Collaborative Working Project Between Sanofi and The University Hospital Birmingham Severe Asthma Team
pharmafile | October 11, 2026 | Feature | Data Management, Medical Communications, Medical Education, Patient Awareness Programmes, Quality Assurance, Training |Â Â Asthma & COPD, Chronic Diseases, EHP Awards, HCPs, SanofiÂ
Launched in February 2026 by PMGroup Worldwide Ltd and Visions4Health, the Excellence in Healthcare Partnerships (EHP) Awards recognise outstanding collaborations between UK healthcare providers and the life sciences industry. Sanofi and University Hospitals Birmingham’s inaugural win for Most Transformational Partnership showcased how purposeful partnership working can help address persistent NHS operational challenges and create a model others can learn from. Here, two key Sanofi leads – Alison Trundle, Regional Engagement and Access Manager, Midlands & South of England and Martin Cassidy, Programme Manager NHS Partnerships – discuss the measurable improvements delivered through the partnership and the wider impact that can be achieved when organisations align around a shared goal…
The collaboration focused on the Severe Asthma Service at University Hospitals Birmingham, where demand, administrative burden and limited clinical capacity were creating significant delays for patients waiting to start biologic treatment. The issue was not a lack of clinical expertise or commitment. Rather, highly skilled specialist nurses and consultants were spending valuable time on administrative tasks that, although essential, were preventing them from focusing fully on patient care.
The solution was deliberately simple: a collaborative working project which jointly funded a Biologics Administrator post, supported by pathway mapping, shared governance and a clear set of measurable objectives. The role centralised the biologics database management, supported multidisciplinary team coordination, improved communication around homecare and prescriptions, and helped streamline the patient journey from referral through to treatment initiation.
Over a 12-month pre- and post-project comparison, the number of patients initiated on biologic treatment increased from 51 to 174 (241% uplift) while average waiting time for biologic initiation fell from 196 days to 103 days. An additional weekly biologic clinic was introduced, nursing capacity was released for follow-up reviews, and consultants were able to focus more time on complex inpatient care, acute triage and admission avoidance.
For eligible patients, this meant faster access to biologic treatment. For the clinical team, it meant reduced pressure, clearer processes and improved job satisfaction. The biologics database became more consistent and reliable, administrative duplication was reduced, and the right tasks increasingly sat with the right people.
What makes this project stand out is not only the outcome, but the way the partnership was built. It was not a transactional funding arrangement. It began with a clearly defined service problem, was governed through a formal collaborative working agreement, and was structured around shared objectives, transparent reporting and mutual accountability. Sanofi brought project management capability, funding and partnership expertise; the NHS brought clinical leadership, patient access and service insight. Together, they created something neither organisation could have achieved as effectively alone.
Sustainability was also designed in from the start. One of the project’s explicit objectives was to build the case for ongoing NHS funding of the administrator role. Within five months of the post starting, the Trust approved a substantive business case to continue the role beyond the project period, ensuring that the benefits would outlast the initial collaboration.
This is why programmes such as the EHP Awards matter because they do more than celebrate individual success stories. They provide visible, credible examples of what effective partnership working looks like in practice: clinically grounded, transparently governed, focused on real service pressures and measured against meaningful outcomes. In a system where many organisations remain cautious about collaboration, recognition helps build confidence that partnership can be done well, and can deliver tangible value for patients, frontline teams and the wider NHS.
There are some clear lessons for future entrants: start with the problem, not the proposed solution. Map the pathway carefully. Define success in measurable terms. Make governance visible. Think about sustainability from day one and, crucially, look beyond simply adding resource. The real transformation often comes from redesigning how work flows through a service, so that clinical expertise is used where it has greatest impact.
The Sanofi and University Hospitals Birmingham partnership shows that meaningful change does not always require complex intervention. Sometimes, transformation begins by listening carefully to where pressure exists, bringing the right partners together, and creating the conditions for teams to deliver better care for patients.
For more information regarding this collaborative working project please visit here.
The EHP Awards 2027 are now open for entry. Visit the EHP Award website to learn more about the categories and how to enter.
- Alison Trundle is regional Engagement and Access Manager, Midlands & South, at Sanofi
- Martin Cassidy is Programme Manager NHS Partnerships at Sanofi
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