Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the national review of asthma deaths; and if he will make a statement.

We have welcomed the report of the United Kingdom’s National Review of Asthma Deaths (NRAD) Confidential Inquiry which provides a wealth of information about the causes of mortality from asthma.

The NHS mandate for 2015-16 says that every patient with a long-term condition, including asthma and other respiratory conditions, should be offered a personalised care action plan. 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 is also working with strategic clinical networks on a programme specifically designed to tackle the issues raised in the NRAD recommendations on paediatric asthma. In addition to this NHS England has commissioned a number of key programmes of work to support improvement in asthma care:

- The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership has been commissioned to undertake a national asthma audit;

- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has prioritised in its 2015/16 work programme to develop two guidelines on both diagnosis and monitoring, and of management of Asthma; and

- Asthma UK is also developing an action plan template to support the implementation of the NRAD recommendations.

From 1 October this year it will become illegal to smoke in a car with a child present, which will reduce the number of children exposed to tobacco smoke.