October 23, 2026
Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis (APF) was alongside people affected by pulmonary fibrosis (PF) in Parliament on Wednesday 21 October, speaking directly to MPs and Peers about the urgent changes needed to improve PF care.
Our message was clear: people affected by PF need faster diagnosis, better support and fairer access to high-quality care closer to home.
People affected by PF shared their personal experiences, helping the more than 30 politicians that we spoke to understand why improvements to care are so important.
And we took your voices with us, too.
More than 1,600 people in our community emailed their MP ahead of the event, reaching 520 of the 650 MPs. That’s 80 per cent of the House of Commons.
We also shared the regional findings from our 2026 State of the Nation report, based on the experiences of more than 1,200 people affected by PF.
Calling for better PF care
Hearing about outcomes and experiences of PF care from their regions helped them to understand the significant inequalities in access to timely diagnosis, specialist treatment and support in their constituencies and across the UK.
We asked MPs in England to support a cross-party letter calling on NHS England to finalise and publish updated national standards for specialist interstitial lung disease (ILD) services. We want to make sure this is completed during the changes taking place at NHS England.
For MPs representing Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we highlighted the need to ensure that plans to improve ILD care are put into practice. We encouraged them to raise this with healthcare decision-makers in their nations and call for the care pathways APF has helped develop to be finalised, properly supported and implemented without delay.
Dr Isolde Radford, APF Head of Policy and Public Affairs, said:
"This was an important day for the PF community. People affected by PF spoke directly about what needs to change, and parliamentarians listened. But interest is only the starting point. We are now following up every commitment and working to turn those conversations into faster diagnosis, better support and fairer access to care.”
Making sure your voices are heard
The event was an important opportunity to strengthen relationships with parliamentarians and build support for better PF care across the UK.
We're now following up with MPs who attended, sharing further evidence and working with them to turn conversations into action.
A huge thank you to Michelle Welsh MP and Mohammad Yasin MP for sponsoring the event, to everyone who joined us in Parliament to share their experiences, and to the more than 1,600 people who emailed their MP.
Together, we'll keep pressing for faster diagnosis, better support and fairer access to care for people affected by PF.