Deaths from asthma in England and Wales are at the highest level in over a decade. Deaths from asthma have increased by 33% in the last 10 years.
According to Asthma UK there has been more than 1,400 people who have died from asthma in the last year which is a 8% increase compared to 2017. Over 12,700 people have died from the condition in England and Wales in the past 10 years.
Asthma UK said too many lives are being taken away by the lack of basic care such as inhaler check. GPs’ leaders said more staff in practices are needed so doctors could have longer appointments with asthma patients.
Dr Samantha Walker, from Asthma UK, said: “I think doctors and nurses on the frontline need to make sure they’re delivering these elements of basic care that are important. But equally important is that people with asthma need to make sure they’re taking their preventative medicine regularly, that they have an action plan, that they know how to use their inhalers and that they know what to do in an emergency.”
In England and Wales nearly five million people have asthma, it can cause people to feel breathlessness, wheezing, coughing and a tight chest. Five years ago, a national review found that two-thirds of asthma deaths could have been prevented.
In a statement Mike Morgan from NHS England said: “Asthma UK worked closely with the NHS to develop proposals in our Long Term Plan, which sets out measures including better diagnosis of the condition, improved medicine reviews and stronger guidance for local health services to better support families living with asthma, all of which will contribute to more than three million people benefiting from improved respiratory, stroke and cardiac services over the next decade, but as we’ve seen this week, with confirmation that one third of childhood asthma cases are linked to air pollution, it’s clear that a big part of this challenge cannot be met by the NHS alone.”
Advice from GPs for asthma patients:
- always have access to your prescription medication
- don’t let inhalers run out or expire without getting a replacement
- understand how to use inhalers, peak flow meters and spacer devices properly
The most common symptoms of asthma are:
- wheezing (a whistling sound when breathing)
- breathlessness
- a tight chest – it may feel like a band is tightening around it
- coughing
Symptoms are more likely to be asthma if they:
- happen often and keep coming back
- are worse at night and early in the morning
- seem to happen in response to an asthma trigger like exercise or an allergy (such as to pollen or animal fur)
