The National Review of Asthma Deaths (NRAD) came out a decade ago, yet as a nation, we still have the highest asthma death rate in Europe - four times that of Italy or the Netherlands. This is unsurprising, considering many patients still rely on their blue inhalers alone.

On the 28th November the joint National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), British Thoracic Society (BTS) and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) will publish their long-awaited single guideline on asthma diagnosis, monitoring and management.

This is a high-level summary of what the new BTS/NICE/SIGN Asthma: diagnosis monitoring and chronic asthma management guideline means for you as a primary healthcare professional and what steps you need to take to implement it effectively. 

It is not a tick box template – all consultations with patients should be approached holistically and tailored specifically to the patient’s needs, requirements and other co-morbidities and situations.

Very Brief Advice (VBA) is our most practical tool to trigger a quit attempt, with structured behavioural support and medical treatment being the best method of quitting and ideally these are provided by stop smoking practitioners.

Tobacco dependency is a long-term relapsing condition that usually starts in childhood This tobacco dependency pragmatic guide is a practical, immediately implementable, evidence-based framework to enable healthcare professionals to routinely identify smokers, encourage a quit attempt a

People living with respiratory disease require a significant amount of support, guidance and intervention to manage their condition effectively. These interventions should be delivered by clinicians with an appropriate level of expertise in this field.

The Primary Care Respiratory Society (PCRS) and Asthma + Lung UK call for urgent action to address the growing number of online pharmacies selling salbutamol inhalers without appropriate medical oversight.

In this podcast Executive Chair, Dr Katherine Hickman and Beverley Bostock (Nurse Practitioner and PCRS Executive Committee Member) explore accountability and responsibility.

As we move from Winter into the beauty of Spring, as the trees start to produce their pollen, we begin to see an increase in patients with symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis.

In this episode of the PCRS Podcast our Executive Chair, Dr Katherine Hickman, is joined by Dr Llinos Jones, Consultant Respiratory Physician with a specialist interest in asthma.

Antibiotics are crucial for managing infectious diseases and preventing complications like pneumonia or sepsis. However, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a growing global health threat, contributing to over 3 million deaths annually.

Are you curious about how research can fit into your everyday clinical practice?

Join Frances Barrett (Respiratory Nurse Specialist and PCRS Service Development Committee Member) and Darush Attar-Zadeh (Clinical Fellow Pharmacist and PCRS Executive Committee Member) as they dive into the incredibly important topic of Tobacco Dependency.

2024 marked a pivotal change in the management of asthma in the UK with the publication of a joint British Thoracic Society (BTS), National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline.