This summary infographic provides an overview of the new MART therapy which has been licensed for children of 6 - 11 years old.

World COPD Day, this year taking place on the 19th November, is an annual global initiative run by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). World COPD Day aims to raise awareness and present new knowledge and novel therapeutic strategies for COPD worldwide.

PCRS will be holding two webinars on Implementing AIR and MART therapy in children (6+), young people and adults. With new licenses coming in quickly for these inhaler treatments, it is important to implement them effectively, in the appropriate age groups. 

This year's Respiratory Leadership Programme commenced with a workshop in June (6th - 7th) focusing on unlocking the skills to turn ideas into action to drive real change. A follow up workshop in November will support you to embed your learning.

We are pleased to launch a new series of resources on health inequalities, which bring you everything you need to know about caring for people with respiratory disease who are impacted by health inequalities and severe mental illness.

In this PCRS Health Inequalities podcast Leslie Borrill and Rebecca Jacobs discuss suicide and suicide prevention in long-term respiratory conditions. They cover:

In this PCRS Health Inequalities podcast Noreen Grant, Lisa Cummings and Aaron Foulds (PCRS patient reference group representative) talk about the impact of respiratory disease on mental health. They cover:

In this PCRS Health Inequalities podcast Katherine Hickman (PCRS executive chair, Kaniksha Aggarwal, Martin Sutcliffe and Sue Wheatcroft discuss respiratory disease and mental health in the context of the UK prison setting. They touch on:

The new BTS/NICE/SIGN guideline, Asthma: Diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management (NG245) has placed fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) early in the diagnostic algorithm, which has caused some concern.

Point-of-care testing of C-reactive protein (CRP) for the acute assessment of worsening symptoms in people known to have COPD can safely reduce the use of antibiotics and could help improve the diagnostic approach towards someone presenting in such a crisis.

With the summer holidays fast approaching, many will be planning trips abroad and booking flights for warm and sunny destinations. However, flying can be a very challenging way to travel for many people with respiratory disease.

There is a slight change to our In Conversation this month - moving from its regular slot to Monday, 23rd June, 19:30-20:00.

Corinne Beirne, Advanced Nurse Practitioner and Amanda Roberts, from PCRS’s patient reference group, discuss what constitutes a good asthma review from a patient’s perspective.

As a summary, this policy statement advocates:

In this inspiring article we learn about the power of storytelling for children and young people suffering from asthma. Asthma is a very common disease, and for some it is a lifelong condition requiring long-term self-management.