Asthma Guidelines in Practice – A PCRS Consensus is a practical and pragmatic guide for healthcare professionals working in primary and intermediate care.  This guide was commissioned to provide clarity on aspects of diagnosis, management and monitoring of asthma that are uncertain due to differences between current national UK guidelines.

Tackling “It's just a bit of asthma,” treating the diagnosis seriously and making sense of how to stop people dying from it

• Read our Briefing Paper

The guide has been written by Luke Daines (GP and Academic Clinical Fellow, University of Edinburgh) in conjunction with GP colleagues Noel Baxter, Kevin Gruffydd Jones, Steve Holmes, Duncan Keeley, nurse colleagues Val Gerrard and Carol Stonham and pharmacist Deborah Leese.

The guide aims to provide a clear, concise and pragmatic view on the diagnosis, management and monitoring of asthma in primary care. It does not attempt to reproduce all the details contained in national guidelines, but instead focuses on the areas that vary substantially between NICE and BTS/SIGN versions, offering a workable solution.

The guide covers:

• Asthma Diagnosis
• Specialist referral
• Objective tests
• Asthma management
• Asthma monitoring and follow-up