Not all severe asthma patients are getting the specialist care they need.
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Living in Limbo: Asthma UK report1
Referral guidelines: NRAD and BTS/SIGN
Patients should be under specialist asthma care if they have2,3:
- Required high-dose therapies to control symptoms*
- Been prescribed daily OCS* or two or more courses of oral or injected corticosteroids in the previous 12 months to control symptoms
- Been admitted to hospital in the previous 12 months
- Had two or more visits to the emergency department with an asthma attack in the previous 12 months
*BTS/SIGN guidance.
A&E, accident and emergency; BTS, British Thoracic Society; NRAD, National Review of Asthma Deaths; OCS, oral corticosteroids; SAA, severe allergic asthma; SIGN, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network.
References
- Asthma UK. Living in Limbo: the scale of unmet need in difficult and severe asthma. 2019. Available at: https://www.asthma.org.uk/support-us/campaigns/publications/living-in-limbo/ [Accessed April 2020].
- Royal College of Physicians. National Review of Asthma Deaths: why asthma still kills. 2015. Available at: https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/why-asthma-still-kills [Accessed April 2020].
- British Thoracic Society. BTS/SIGN British Guideline on the Management of Asthma. 2019. Available at: https://www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/quality-improvement/guidelines/asthma/ [Accessed April 2020].
XSA20-C019 July 2020.
