Shock report on asthma

7:00am Saturday 10th May 2008

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ASTHMA UK has released a UK-wide report which reveals shocking differences in the numbers of emergency hospital admissions for children with asthma, with the most worrying trends being seen in England.

The figures show an eight-fold divide between Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) across England, with the West Midlands highlighted as the region with the third highest overall admissions.

The report forms part of a campaign by Asthma UK called Wish you were here?, which highlights the lottery that children with asthma face across the whole UK when accessing local health services.

The campaign aims to shock governments and health services across the UK into taking asthma more seriously and ensuring that consistent standards across the UK are put in place.

As well as the devastating effect on people's lives, emergency hospital admissions are extremely costly and form a significant part of the estimated £1 billion cost of asthma to the NHS each year.

Emergency hospital admissions for asthma for both children and adults cost the NHS in the UK £61 million per year, yet 75 per cent of admissions are avoidable through effective asthma management and routine care. That could mean a saving of almost £46 million.

On average, a child is admitted to hospital because of their asthma every 16 minutes in the UK - 91 children every day.

The report shows that standardised hospital admissions for asthma in the West Midlands are nearly 50 per cent higher than in the East of the country, the region with the lowest admissions overall.

On top of the divide in admissions across England, there is also a significant disparity between PCTs within the West Midlands. Topping the list is Heart of Birmingham PCT, which has the fourth highest emergency admissions in England.

Children with asthma in the Heart of Birmingham area are almost three times more likely to have an emergency hospital admission than those living in Warwickshire, which has the lowest admissions in the West Midlands.

Other PCTs with significantly higher than average admissions include Birmingham East and North PCT and Sandwell PCT, with standardised admissions 44 per cent and 40 per cent above the national average respectively.

Although admissions are unacceptably high in those and other areas of the West Midlands, several PCTs are demonstrating an active commitment to reducing emergency admissions in their areas.

Heart of Birmingham PCT, for example, has made a clear commitment to reducing unnecessary admissions for childhood asthma, by developing a project where children with the condition are followed up more effectively after they have an emergency hospital admission, a project that is being co-funded by Asthma UK.

The PCT also employs one of only 20 GPs in England with a special interest in respiratory medicine, is funding extra training on asthma for GPs and has a family link worker fluent in a number of South Asian languages in place to reinforce educational messages about asthma across the area's diverse communities.

Dudley PCT, an area with a serious shortage of GPs, has also been working hard to help prevent unnecessary emergency admissions and, as a result, admissions in the PCT are 34 per cent below the standardised national average.

The PCT has been working with Asthma UK to introduce a programme of training for local healthcare professionals and recruited a dedicated asthma nurse to raise standards of asthma care and understanding in local schools.

The overall region with the highest number of emergency hospital admissions in England is the North West, with Liverpool PCT topping the list of PCTs overall. Children with asthma in Liverpool are eight times more likely to have an emergency hospital admission for their asthma than those living in Richmond and Twickenham PCT, which has the lowest emergency admissions in England.

While the figures suggest that services for children with asthma are not of a consistently high standard across England, they also clearly demonstrate some link between areas of high deprivation and high emergency admissions.

In light of the results, Asthma UK is calling urgently on the Government to reduce unnecessary admissions for asthma among children, by ensuring children have access to high-quality asthma services wherever they live.

That can only be achieved if England has national standards for asthma, so Asthma UK is urging the Government to implement a National Service Framework for the condition.