Nearly one in five children in the UK is living in poverty and this deprivation increases the number of hospital admissions for asthma which have continued to rise over the last decade.

It recommends that primary care must work in a much more integrated way with secondary care in order to more effectively manage the needs of this vulnerable group of patients. Audit data collated during 2014 shows that:

Based on the press release issued by NICE, it appears that much of the content of the draft guideline reinforces and is consistent with the BTS/SIGN guideline on asthma management which was  updated in September 2016 (see

The report says first line rescue care and treatment for children suffering from acute wheezing and asthma is generally working extremely well in hospitals.  Overall, children are receiving the right treatments, and admission to paediatric intensive care is only needed in a very small propor

The report, which follows publication of a Welsh primary care audit report last month, combines publically available data from 2014-15 for England w

The UK Inhaler Group (UKIG), of which PCRS-UK is a member, is calling for an official ‘blue’ colour code convention to be introduced for inhaled reliever medications.

While the National COPD audit has been running for several years, this is the first report based on primary care data to be published.

The number of smokers in England has fallen to its lowest level, with just one in six adults (17%) now lighting up, according to the latest DATA from Public Health England.

The updated British Asthma Guideline has been published today on British Thoracic Society (BTS) and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) websites. This update has focused on the chapters on diagnosis and pharmacological therapy.

‘Diagnosing respiratory disease accurately can be a real challenge, and there is much debate about whether there is underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis of respiratory conditions.

BTS Best Practice Travel Fellowships NACFC October 2016 The British Thoracic Society is working in association with several partners from bio-medical industries to offer Travel Fellowships to selected international and national respiratory conferences.

Public Health England campaign Public Health England will be running a “Be Clear on Cancer campaign” focusing on the respiratory symptoms of a persistent cough and inappropriate breathlessness to encourage people with these symptoms to see their doctor.

This year's European Respiratory  Society (ERS) international Congress is being held at ExCel in London 3-7 September.

UKLCC Lung Cancer Survey - Survey deadline extended to 11 July 2016

Assessment and diagnosis