Helen Jones – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the conclusions and recommendations of the report of the National Review of Asthma Deaths, published on 6 May 2014.

Jane Ellison

We welcome the report of the UK National Review of Asthma Deaths (NRAD) which provides a wealth of information about the causes of mortality from asthma.

While deaths rates from asthma have fallen steadily over the past three decades, and the number of deaths are small compared with those from cancer and heart disease, we are concerned about the proportion of deaths in children and young people that, in theory, could be preventable.

Patients (including children and young people) should be reviewed regularly and have personal action plans in place. They and their families or carers should know the right medications to use at the right times and how to use them, and to understand the importance of monitoring their condition and how to do this. NHS England has a programme of work in place through a "house of care" model to help ensure that patients with long term conditions such as asthma, can largely self-manage their condition with appropriate support from healthcare professionals.