In February 2026, PMGroup Worldwide Ltd and Visions4Health introduced the Excellence in Healthcare Partnerships (EHP) Awards, a programme intended to recognise forward‑thinking collaborations that bridge UK health providers with the life‑sciences sector.
The inaugural ceremony highlighted three standout projects. ZPB Associates, BioCryst UK & Ireland—now operating under NeoPharmed Gentili—and the patient charity HAE UK each received the Partnership Project of the Year award in the Pharmaceuticals category for their joint effort to improve shared decision‑making for people living with hereditary angioedema.
Building a cross‑sector effort
The collaboration assembled four distinct contributors. BioCryst UK & Ireland articulated a clear ambition to enhance long‑term care for individuals with HAE, while HAE UK ensured that the patient perspective shaped every stage of the work.
Clinical leadership was supplied by Barts Health NHS Trust, and ZPB Associates took responsibility for research coordination and the creation of campaign assets.
Initial activities revolved around a straightforward inquiry: how do patients and clinicians actually experience shared decision‑making? To answer this, the team deployed surveys, conducted in‑depth interviews, and facilitated co‑creation workshops that uncovered communication gaps and mismatched expectations.
The insights gathered fed directly into a practical toolkit. This resource package was designed to make clinic conversations more concrete, patient‑focused, and aligned with the realities uncovered during the research phase.
By blending clinical expertise, lived experience, communication skill, and industry support, the group produced materials that were both evidence‑based and readily usable. Through the charity’s extensive network, the toolkit reached immunology centres throughout the United Kingdom.
Measured impact on practice and awareness
Following the rollout, a large majority, 87 %, of consultant immunologists who responded to a follow‑up survey reported having seen the campaign assets, and 92 % described them as useful in everyday practice.
More than half, 62 %, indicated that the tools altered how they or their peers interacted with patients, leading to more consistent shared decision‑making across participating sites.
Public interest rose noticeably. Google searches for the phrase “shared decision making” doubled, while queries for “hereditary angioedema” increased by 45 % after the launch. National media coverage further embedded the toolkit within NHS immunology services.
Clinicians observed that the initiative did not stop at publishing a report; it generated tangible changes in hospital systems. The adoption of the resources demonstrated how insight can be turned into real‑world improvements for people living with this rare condition.
Guidance for future entrants
Team members emphasise that the project succeeded because every stakeholder was involved from the outset, rather than being consulted only after decisions were made. Research results were tested in workshops, and campaign items were continuously refined based on feedback from the intended users.
“We are so grateful to the HAE clinical and patient community in the UK for participating in the activities to develop the campaign and build shared decision making into the management of this rare condition,” said Gemma Gapper, Director of Patient Access at NeoPharmed Gentili.
For organisations eyeing future EHP Awards, the advice is clear: begin by seeing the problem through the eyes of patients and clinicians, involve all partners early, and focus on creating tools that will actually be used. Setting success metrics from the outset helps keep the effort grounded in measurable outcomes.
Compared with previous rare‑disease initiatives that often stalled after research phases, this project illustrates how a tightly coordinated approach can push innovations past the paper stage and into everyday care.
The rapid uptake of the toolkit suggests that when stakeholders share ownership, adoption accelerates.
The next awards open in 2027.
