Asthma patients facing postcode lottery for care, warns charity

 
7 May 2013

Londoners face a postcode lottery over asthma care, a leading charity warned today.

Figures from Asthma UK reveal an “alarming” variation in the number of people being taken to each hospital with an asthma attack. The charity said that high emergency admissions in parts of the capital showed that children and adults were not receiving the correct care and management.

It added that the huge variation in admission rates could not be blamed on living standards or pollution.

Tower Hamlets, one of the capital’s poorest boroughs, has the lowest rate of child emergency admissions in the UK, for example. Just under 39 children with asthma in every 100,000 went to hospital between 2010 and 2011.

The figure for Brent primary care trust was more than 10 times that rate. A total of 404 per 100,000 were admitted in the same year. Ealing, Waltham Forest, Lewisham and Lambeth are also in the top five for high admission rates.

For adults, Newham has the highest admission rate in London — and the country — with more than 193 per 100,000, followed by Ealing, Brent, Waltham Forest and Tower Hamlets. Health trusts with the lowest adult admission rates include Bromley with just over 30, along with Bexley Care Trust, Havering and Greenwich.

People with asthma should have a review at least once a year to help them understand their “triggers” and check they are using their inhaler properly.

However, Cassandra Clark is among thousands of patients being failed by the NHS. The 24-year-old student from Chingford has faced two-week waits for GP appointments despite her medical history including a hospital admission for an asthma attack and treatment for a collapsed lung six years ago.

She said: “Moving to London [from the south coast] I hoped my care would improve, but it’s got worse. I’ve been at my new surgery for more than a year-and-a-half and I’ve only had one review, when I first joined.

“And a few days ago I rang the doctor because I was having chest problems. Instead of giving me an appointment so he could check my breathing, he prescribed me with some antibiotics over reception. A lot of GPs don’t understand asthma very well, and it scares me to think that I could end up in hospital again.”

Asthma UK has launched a campaign where people can rate their care online.

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