Unacceptable differences in emergency hospital admissions for adults and children with asthma in Wales revealed
06 May 2008

To mark World Asthma Day on 6 May 2008, Asthma UK Cymru has released a report which reveals alarming differences in emergency asthma admissions for both adults and children between Local Health Boards.

The report forms part of a campaign by Asthma UK called ‘Wish you were here?’ which highlights the lottery that people with asthma face in Wales and across the UK when accessing local health services. The campaign aims to shock governments and health services across the UK into taking asthma more seriously and ensuring that consistent standards across the UK are put in place. As well as the devastating effect on people’s lives, emergency hospital admissions are extremely costly and form a large part of the estimated £1 billion cost of asthma to the NHS  each year.

The report shows that people with asthma living in Blaenau Gwent are over three times more likely to be hospitalised for their asthma than those living in Ceredigion or Powys which has the lowest emergency admissions in Wales. The figures suggest that services for people with asthma are not of a consistently high standard across Wales and demonstrate some link between areas of high deprivation and high emergency admission rates.

Worryingly Asthma UK Cymru’s report also shows that children with asthma in Swansea are more than twice as likely to be admitted to hospital for their asthma than in Ceredigion or Powys. With 55,000 children affected, Wales has some of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the world and more than a third of hospital admissions for asthma in Wales  are for children aged under 15, which means nearly 23 children a week need emergency care to help them breathe.

In light of this report, Asthma UK Cymru is urging Local Health Boards across Wales to help reduce emergency admissions by signing up to Asthma UK’s new Good Asthma Services Checklist, which outlines the standard of asthma services that people with the condition should be entitled to.

Asthma UK Cymru is calling on the Welsh Assembly Government to work with us to reduce unnecessary and costly emergency hospital admissions.  Asthma UK Cymru estimates that 75% of emergency admissions are avoidable if the correct services are in place in primary care. As such the Welsh Assembly Government needs to ensure that all people with asthma have a personal asthma action plan, as research suggests that people with a plan are four times less likely to have an admission for their asthma.

Asthma UK Cymru has welcomed the Service Development and Commissioning Directives : Chronic Respiratory Conditions as a positive step to improving the care for people with asthma in Wales and insists that the Welsh Assembly Government provide sufficient resources are put in place to ensure key actions and target dates are fully achieved. Local politicians are being asked to contact their Local Health Board urging them to sign up to the Good Asthma Services Checklist and to prioritise asthma care.

Recommendations by Asthma UK Cymru will be highlighted at a reception at the Senedd between 8am - 2pm on World Asthma Day sponsored by Jenny Randerson, Assembly Member, Health Spokesperson for the Welsh Liberal Democrats. We are urging Assembly Members, people with asthma, parents of children with asthma and the general public to come along during the day and lend their support to the campaign by signing our Pledge Board which calls for better services for people with asthma in Wales.

At 1pm they will be joined by children from local early years and primary schools whose carers and teachers have benefited from Asthma UK Cymru’s Alert to Asthma education programme, and in the evening Caernarfon and Caerphilly castles will be lit up in lime green – our brand colour, from 8pm.
 
Research suggests a shocking 75% of admissions could be avoided if better preventative steps were taken to manage the condition.  People with asthma are therefore being urged to have an asthma review with their GP every 6-12 months, and to prepare themselves for this review by contacting Asthma UK Cymru for their Making the most of your asthma review leaflet. This includes key questions that people with asthma can ask during an asthma review, and outlines what to expect from a GP or nurse.

Janet Pardue-Wood, National Director of Asthma UK Cymru says: ‘These figures paint a disturbing picture of the impact of asthma on people’s lives, suggesting that not everyone is getting the same access to vital asthma services, such as a local specialist asthma nurse. These divisions are simply unacceptable and we are determined that our campaign informs Health Services and the Welsh Assembly Government about the costs and consequences of unnecessary hospital admissions. When asthma is not controlled effectively, the effects can be devastating and in some cases fatal, which is why improving healthcare and reducing the hospital admissions of the 260,000 people with asthma in Wales is a key aim for Asthma UK Cymru’.

Renowned Professor Julian Tudor Hart, leading author of The Inverse Care Law, adds: ‘Above all, asthma needs consulting time and continuity, and of course consulting time is squeezed most in the poorest, highest morbidity communities’.

1. For further information, contact the Asthma UK media office on 020 7786 4949 or at mediaoffice@asthma.org.uk.
2. To order a copy of Making the most of your asthma review, call Asthma UK on 08456 03 81 43.
3. Asthma UK Cymru  is the charity dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the 260,000 people in Wales whose lives are affected by asthma.
4. For up-to-date news on asthma, information and publications, visit the Asthma UK website asthma.org.uk.
5. Asthma UK’s campaign is supported by an educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline.
   

All about asthma

• There were 4416 admissions for people with asthma in Wales in 2006-7 (1,734 children) and Wales has the most admissions per head of population.
• 1 in 10 children in Wales has asthma (55,000) – that’s on average 3 children in every classroom.
• Asthma is the most common long-term condition among children in the UK.Half a million children in the UK live with severe asthma symptoms, such as debilitating breathlessness.
• Nearly a quarter of children with asthma miss six or more days of school a year as a result of their condition.
• Confidential advice about asthma is available by speaking to a nurse on the Asthma UK Adviceline, on 08457 01 02 03 (Monday – Friday, from 9.00am-5.00pm). Or email an asthma nurse at asthma.org.uk/adviceline.