Only a third of patients with asthma have an annual review, a written action plan and education on correctly using inhalers. Asthma UK’s annual survey of 4,500 patients with asthma found that just 33.5% had received all three in the last year; the remainder felt they were missing out on ‘basic’ care.
It found that 70% of patients who had attended hospital or received out-of-hours care for their asthma had not had a follow-up appointment with their GP. But although over 80% of respondents had poorly-controlled asthma, just under a third felt their asthma affected their day-to-day lives.
A subsequent report published showed that ‘there are still unacceptable variations in care that contribute to the impact of asthma on both people’s live and wider society’. But the charity acknowledged the importance of patients being proactive in managing their condition. The charity is looking to resolve the issue by ‘calling for digital asthma action plans to be incorporated into personal health records and GP computer systems’.