Information received from North West Clinical Pathway team advise:
- 1 in 11 children in the north west have asthma - this means that 2 children in every classroom. It is the most common long-term medical condition.
- Asthma attacks are preventable; however, around 5800 children get admitted with an asthma attack in North West hospitals every year. This is more than 48% of asthma admissions for all ages. North West region has the highest admission rates nationally for children and young people for asthma, diabetes and epilepsy.
- Asthma is a serious but controllable condition. Children dying due to an asthma attack should be a never event however children with asthma continue to die. A recent death of a 9 year old child in the north west due to an asthma attack highlights the need to raise asthma awareness with children, their parents, carers and teachers.
- Many people who work with children and young people in the north west do not know what to do when a child has an asthma attack.
- Children often have sleep disturbances, absence from school and limitations of physical activity that mey reduce their quality of life.
The North West respiratory clinical pathway team are working with school nurses to raise Asthma awareness in schools, where children spend a lot of their time.
As parents/carers of someone with asthma:
- Realise that asthma is a serious but controllable condition.
- Ensure your child takes both their inhalers as recommended - the preventer (usually the brown, red or orange) and the reliever (blue inhaler). The inhaler that can make a very big difference in the way your child controls his or her asthma is the preventer inhaler and they should take this as recommended - usually twice a day.
- Ensure that you and your child know howto take the inhaler correctly. Approximately 50% of the time the medicine delivered through the inhaler is wated because it is not taken correctly.
- Inform your childs other carers and school staff about his or her condition and ensure they know what to do in case your childs asthma worsens while they are in school.
As an informed member of the community you can also:
- Pass on this information to anyone who has asthma or has a child or cares for someone with asthma.
- If you are a govenor in any school in the north west, ask the school board if the school has an asthma register, if their staff has attended an asthma awareness session and if the school has a policy for asthma in school.
Asthma UK is a charity that has various resources to support schools as well as parents and carers. Visit their website at
http;//www.asthma.org.uk/how-we-help/teachers-and-healthcare-professions/
Help Nhs North West make a difference to the lives of children with asthma to ensure that living in the North West with asthma ceases to be a cause for concern