Charity warns on asthma training

A lack of training given to general practitioners in treating asthma is putting sufferers’ lives at risk, a charity has warned.

A survey for Asthma UK has revealed that education on the condition is not a priority despite over half of general practitioners agreeing that the number of deaths could be reduced with better care.

Just under two-thirds said they felt public awareness of asthma could be improved, while 47 per cent admitted their own knowledge was lacking.

This reflects Primary Care Respiratory Society survey results which show that of the GPs questioned, more than half answered questions on British clinical guidelines for asthma incorrectly.

According to the charity, emergency hospital admissions in UK for asthma for both children and adults cost government over £60 million per year, yet 75 per cent of admissions are avoidable through effective management and routine care.

Asthma UK say this potentially means over £45 million is being wasted, a figure which could be reduced with better knowledge of the condition among general practitioners.

Neil Churchill, chief executive of Asthma UK, said: “These findings show that asthma training is not being given the priority it deserves, despite the fact that asthma hospitalises someone every seven minutes.

“Sadly this is not a unique situation; we know that complacency about asthma also exists among many schools.”