Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to ensure that everyone diagnosed with asthma has a written asthma action plan by 2015.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2015-16 says that everyone with a long term condition should be offered a personalised care plan.
In February 2013, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its asthma quality standard, which covers the diagnosis and treatment of asthma in adults, young people and children aged 12 months and older. The quality standard sets out that people with asthma should receive a written personalised action plan.
NHS England is statutorily required to have regard to NICE quality standards and it is responsible for taking forward the implementation of the quality standard on asthma.
Asthma services are being considered by NHS England and The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership as one of a number of potential new areas for audit. However, no final decision has been taken as to whether a new National Clinical Audit for Asthma will be commissioned.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will work with NHS England to ensure that a national clinical audit is carried out into services for people with asthma.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2015-16 says that everyone with a long term condition should be offered a personalised care plan.
In February 2013, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its asthma quality standard, which covers the diagnosis and treatment of asthma in adults, young people and children aged 12 months and older. The quality standard sets out that people with asthma should receive a written personalised action plan.
NHS England is statutorily required to have regard to NICE quality standards and it is responsible for taking forward the implementation of the quality standard on asthma.
Asthma services are being considered by NHS England and The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership as one of a number of potential new areas for audit. However, no final decision has been taken as to whether a new National Clinical Audit for Asthma will be commissioned.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to tackle late diagnosis for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Public Health England has developed a campaign to raise awareness of the symptom of breathlessness. The Breathlessness campaign aims to encourage those with inappropriate breathlessness (breathlessness that is disproportionate to the level of activity undertaken i.e. at rest or on minimal exertion) to go and see their general practitioner (GP). It is primarily aimed at earlier diagnosis of heart and lung disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with scope to reduce premature mortality and to improve the quality of life of those living with these conditions.
The campaign ran as a local pilot and will be run at a regional level in the East of England in February 2015. Evaluation of the local pilot is still underway, although early findings are positive from follow-up in-depth interviews with a sample of local GPs and pharmacists and pre and post awareness tracking research among the public.
The Department also published An Outcomes Strategy for People with COPD and Asthma in England in 2011, which sets out six high-level objectives to improve outcomes in these areas through high quality prevention, detection, treatment and care services, and the National Health Service Companion Document to the Outcomes Strategy, setting out how the NHS can implement changes at a local level in 2012.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were diagnosed in accident and emergency settings in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Specific information on how many cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were diagnosed in accident and emergency settings in each of the last five years is not held centrally.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Respiratory Health's report on respiratory deaths; and if he will ask NHS England to issue a formal response to that report.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England has assessed the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Respiratory Health’s report on respiratory deaths. It has already taken action in respect of several of the recommendations. For example, it has put forward asthma as one of the priority areas for consideration for a national clinical audit. It is also exploring scope for improving the provision of asthma action plans as part of a programme of improvement work around the care of children with asthma. This is being taken forward in partnership with the Strategic Clinical Networks.