Welcome to the Summer 2021 edition of Primary Care Respiratory Update. In this publication, and in keeping with the weather outside, we are providing a focus on climate, Global Warming, and the environment.

In this article we discuss how to incorporate environmental considerations when selecting inhaler devices for patients newly diagnosed with respiratory disease.

The start of a new year is an ideal time to support patients to consider small ways to begin working towards a healthy lifestyle.

Get ready for winter now... The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a huge amount of upheaval and changed the way we live our lives in a very short space of time.

Greener respiratory healthcare: where do we go now as the inhaler recycling schemes comes to an end? There is an urgent need for a national strategy to avoid the estimated 73 million respiratory inhalers prescribed each year from entering landfill, concluded participants at the PCRS Gre

Dr Duncan Keeley and Prof Martin Partridge have set out that there are advantages of separating out the routine inhaled treatment of asthma and COPD from that needed in more acute situations.

Switching respiratory patients to alternative, greener inhalers could achieve large carbon savings and reduce drug costs by using less expensive brands, reports a new study.

The least cost-effective inhaler device is the one that the patient cannot use. In deciding which device and drug formulation to prescribe healthcare professionals should first determine the patient’s ability to use the prescribed device correctly.

A series of instructional videos on good inhaler technique has been launched by Asthma UK.

A Respiratory Dashboard has been developed by a group of respiratory specialists established by the NHS Business Services Authority to highlight the variation in prescrib

Patients may accidentally inhale the mouthpiece of a pressurised metered dose inhaler (pMDI) or objects that have become trapped inside the device if it is not used or stored correctly, the medicines regulator has warned.

Every patient treated with a pressured metered dose inhaler (pMDI) should own and regularly use a spacer/valved holding chamber (VHC) concludes a new review.

The UK Inhaler Group (UKIG), which PCRS-UK is a member of, are working with Asthma UK to develop a comprehensive set of videos on correct inhaler technique. The videos would be available online and form a definitive, easily accessed resource for patients and healthcare professionals.