Children with asthma need to receive better treatment and care to reduce emergency hospital admissions, says BLF - 06/05/08

The British Lung Foundation welcomes the publication of a report by Asthma UK which says that there is "worrying" variation in the number of children admitted to hospital for asthma attacks in different areas of England.

It's figures show that child admissions for asthma in Liverpool are 192% higher than the England average. Other PCTs with high rates are Knowsley, Heart of Birmingham and Oldham. The figures, which take into account what the expected rate for the PCT population should be, showed the 10 PCTs with the lowest admission rates were all in the South-East.

“Respiratory conditions like asthma are the most commonly reported long term illness in children but as this report shows, they are often poorly managed leading to unnecessary emergency hospital admissions and a huge burden on the NHS” says Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation.

“We support Asthma UK’s report. If children with asthma received better diagnosis, treatment and care, and better information and support, it would improve the quality of their lives and pay dividends in terms of reduced emergency admission costs in the NHS”.

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