Action in asthma: the basics and beyond

England and Wales have seen the highest death rate from asthma in the past decade, with 12 700 people dying from asthma in the past 10 years – an increase of 33% according to an Asthma UK analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2019) (The Pharmaceutical Journal, 2019). Asthma UK is now calling on the NHS to take urgent action on a situation it describes as ‘a lack of basic asthma care’ – this comes only 5 years after the National Review of Asthma Deaths (NRAD) highlighted that two-thirds of asthma deaths in the UK could have been prevented with better basic care (Levy et al, 2014; The Pharmaceutical Journal, 2019).

The basic care in the UK referred to by Asthma UK consists of the prescription and use of preventer, reliever and combination inhalers, as well as tablets, injections, surgery and other novel treatments for more severe cases (Foster, 2018; NHS, 2018). However, whether the patient is taught proper inhaler technique, whether they have an asthma action plan to help them manage their condition, and whether they have an annual asthma review with their nurse or GP, is highly variable.