North’s poor record on child asthma

May 6 2008 by Jule Wilson, The Journal

HOSPITAL admissions for childhood asthma in the North East are among the highest in the country, campaigners will say today.

The region has been named by national charity Asthma UK as the second worst in the country for emergency hospital admissions for children under 14 living with the condition, with only the North West having higher rates.

Cases of childhood asthma requiring emergency treatment are 60% higher in the region than the national average, it says, showing the need to improve primary care services for those with the illness.

The charity’s report also highlighted big differences in rates of asthma among children depending on where they live, with young people twice as likely to go into hospital with the illness in Gateshead as they are in Northumberland.

Neil Churchill, chief executive of Asthma UK, said: “The report forms part of our Wish you were here? campaign which highlights the lottery that children with asthma face across the whole of the UK when accessing local health services.

“The campaign aims to shock Government and health services into taking asthma more seriously and ensuring that consistent standards across the UK are put in place.

“As well as the devastating effect on people’s lives, emergency hospital admissions are extremely costly and form a significant part of the estimated £1bn cost of asthma to the NHS each year.

“Emergency hospital admissions for asthma for both children and adults cost the NHS in the UK £61m per year, yet 75% of admissions are avoidable through effective asthma management and routine care. This could mean a saving of almost £46m.”

Gateshead PCT is listed as having the eighth highest emergency admissions in England, with Middlesbrough 10th.

County Durham, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Newcastle were all said to have above average rates of emergency admissions, but North Tyneside and Northumberland were below average.

Mr Churchill continued: “Children in Gateshead are nearly twice as likely to have an emergency admission as they are in Northumberland, where standardised admissions are 13% below average, and four times more likely than those living in Richmond and Twickenham, the area with the lowest admissions in the country. Our figures show an eight-fold divide between Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) across England, with the North East highlighted as the region with the second highest overall admissions.”

Asthma UK is now calling for a National Service Framework for the condition so that its management is more consistent across the country.

Primary Care Trusts are also being urged to sign up to the charity’s new Good Asthma Services Checklist, which outlines the standard of asthma services people should be entitled to.

He said: “If asthma is not controlled effectively, the effects can be devastating and in some cases fatal, which is why reducing the hospital admissions of people with asthma is a key aim and our campaign must act as a wake-up call to health services.”

Nobody from any of the region’s Primary Care Trusts was available for comment. The Asthma UK Adviceline is 08457 010203.