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Health: Asthma

One of the most courageous children I have ever known, for whom I had responsibility for a short while, had serious asthma. He was in this country from Germany with me. He longed for a normal life and he did everything that he could to have one. I longed for access to specialist care and the certainty that I could reach it if he had an attack. There were no specialists where we were and the GP did not have specialist knowledge. One priority is to ensure that people have the name of a GP who specialises in asthma care. I think that only 13 per cent of people have the comfort of knowing that that is available. A survey has shown that 20 per cent of asthma nurses, who are expected to diagnose asthma and to give follow-up treatment without medical input, have not had accredited training. People with asthma have told us that the recent decline in the number of specialist asthma nurses has affected the quality of care that they receive. This is at a time when the number of people suffering from asthma is increasing rapidly. I hope that the Government will do something to make this a priority in the very near future.