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SENTINEL Plus is based on the SENTINEL project, a quality improvement initiative undertaken in Hull and East Yorkshire, supported through a Joint Working Agreement between Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and AstraZeneca UK.
SENTINEL Plus is a quality improvement framework, providing educational resources, built upon the foundations of the original SENTINEL quality improvement project undertaken in Hull and East Yorkshire.
The aim of SENTINEL Plus is to identify and address short-acting beta 2 agonist (SABA) overuse, through supporting implementation of guideline recommended care, in order to improve asthma outcomes and reduce the environmental impact of asthma treatments.
The original SENTINEL quality improvement project was co-designed by clinicians and patients and formed around 5 pillars that facilitate a comprehensive change in practice:
The SENTINEL Plus approach to asthma management, which is fully aligned with the 2024 joint BTS/NICE/SIGN asthma guideline, aims to provide a sustainable, long-term model for delivering high-quality asthma care that is practical, scalable and grounded in real-world experience.1
Read on to learn more about why SENTINEL Plus matters, browse the SENTINEL Plus prospectus for a comprehensive overview of the framework, or jump straight into the SENTINEL Plus toolkit.
The original SENTINEL quality improvement project was delivered across 6 primary care networks (PCNs) in Hull and East Yorkshire between 2020–22. The first PCN in this cohort was the SENTINEL pilot site (Nov 2020-Jan 2021), with subsequent PCNs implementing SENTINEL sequentially as part of the same programme. The SENTINEL quality improvement project is the blueprint for the SENTINEL Plus quality improvement framework.
Following implementation of SENTINEL in 6 PCNs, SABA overuse dropped from 79% to 39% among reviewed asthma patients, reflecting a 51% relative and 40% absolute reduction.2
The proportion of overall asthma patients receiving one or more MART prescriptions in the Pilot PCN increased by over 5 fold, from 4.7% pre-implementation to 25.2% post-implementation.3
Following implementation of SENTINEL in the pilot PCN, the proportion of asthma patients experiencing one or more exacerbations decreased by 30% in the reviewed asthma population.3 There was an absolute reduction of 0.16 exacerbations per patient.3
The carbon footprint (COe) of asthma prescribing fell by 38% – from 402,000kg to 247,000kg – in the 12 months post-SENTINEL implementation.4
Following implementation of SENTINEL in 6 PCNs, SABA overuse dropped from 79% to 39% among reviewed asthma patients, reflecting a 51% relative and 40% absolute reduction.2
The proportion of overall asthma patients receiving one or more MART prescriptions in the Pilot PCN increased by over 5 fold, from 4.7% pre-implementation to 25.2% post-implementation.3
Following implementation of SENTINEL in the pilot PCN, the proportion of asthma patients experiencing one or more exacerbations decreased by 30% in the reviewed asthma population.3 There was an absolute reduction of 0.16 exacerbations per patient.3
The carbon footprint (COe) of asthma prescribing fell by 38% – from 402,000kg to 247,000kg – in the 12 months post-SENTINEL implementation.4
References
GB-76214 | May 2026
SENTINEL Plus is developed with the aim of improving outcomes for asthma patients through identifying and addressing short-acting beta 2 agonist (SABA) over-reliance
GB-76210 | May 2026