Asthma deaths 'highest in a decade'

New data has revealed that deaths from asthma in England and Wales are the highest they have been in more than a decade, with too many lives were being cut short by a lack of basic care.

That is the view of Asthma UK, after the figures revealed that more than 1,400 adults and children died from asthma attacks in 2018 -representing 2.5 people out of every 100,000. Nearly five million people in England and Wales have asthma, and more than 12,700 people have died from asthma in England and Wales in the past 10 years.

The Asthma UK charity has stressed that it was ‘completely unacceptable that thousands of people with asthma in England and Wales have died needlessly’ from asthma attacks.

With research linking some childhood asthmas to air pollution, NHS England has said that it can't solve the problem on its own. The Royal College of GPs says that more staff in practices is needed so that doctors could spend longer with asthma patients.

Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "Asthma is a common condition in general practice and GPs and their nursing teams understand the importance of carefully managing patients with asthma, including through the use of personal asthma action plans, as well as encouraging patients to undergo regular reviews.

"It is also vitally important that patients understand their own treatment and how to properly use equipment, such as inhalers, peak flow meters, and spacer devices - and GPs and our teams play an important role in ensuring patients of all ages feel more confident about managing their asthma appropriately and effectively. It is also essential that patients always have access to their prescription medication and do not allow inhalers to run out or expire before they ask for replacement prescriptions.

"Ultimately, we need more GPs and more members of the practice team so that we can spend longer with our patients with asthma. That's why we need to see more investment injected into primary care, the delivery of the NHS Long-Term Plan, and further details about how the proposals in the interim People Plan will be achieved, to ensure GPs and our teams can continue to provide the comprehensive care our all of patients, including those with respiratory conditions, need and deserve."