Anne Rodman, the current longest serving member of the PCRS Conference Organising Committee (COC), will be stepping down as Co-Chair at this year’s PCRS Respiratory Conference after six years of service.

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.

Fran Robinson talks to a patient who has had asthma all her life, feels that annual asthma reviews are a waste of time (except when they are conducted by PCRS members).

PCRS has published a new pragmatic guide to help clinicians identify the triggers for referral for specialist care for people with poorly controlled and severe asthma.

Key facts

Children are turning their backs on smoking tobacco in significant numbers, a Government survey reveals. Only one in six children (16%) aged 11-15 admit to have ever tried smoking, a substantial decline compared to 1996 when nearly half (49%) had tried cigarettes. 

NICE has published new indicators for asthma and COPD, part of a suite of new indicators, which will inform negotiations for the 2020/21 QOF in England.

NICE has published an updated COPD guideline which makes recommendations on inhaled triple therapy, and oral corticosteroids for managing exacerbations.

BTS/SIGN has published an updated guideline on the management of asthma.  

The Government has set a goal of a ‘smoke-free’ England by 2030 in a new health prevention Green Paper.

PCRS welcome this further update of the long established, comprehensive and highly respected BTS/SIGN guideline for asthma.

A Respiratory Service Framework setting out the components of optimal primary and community respiratory care has been published by PCRS.

Point-of-care testing of C-reactive protein (CRP) in primary care may help reduce unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics for people with COPD, according to new research published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Patients with mental health conditions who are prescribed varenicline to quit smoking, are more likely to have quit at two-year follow-up compared to patients prescribed nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), reports a study published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

E-cigarettes have become increasingly popular in recent years. The main reason given by current vapers for using e-cigarettes is to help them stop smoking tobacco. This pragmatic article provides information on the safety and effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a stop smoking tool.