A YORK Hospital consultant has played a key role in drawing up a national action plan to save asthma patients' lives.

John White, a consultant respiratory physician at York NHS Foundation Trust, has helped the British Thoracic Society and Asthma UK draw up the five-point care check list or 'bundle.'

The society says the five steps are intended to help hospitals reduce future life threatening asthma attacks and admissions when patients are discharged following treatment.

It says that according to a recent National Review of Asthma Deaths, 10 per cent of asthma deaths happen within just one month of discharge from hospital following treatment for an acute attack.

The five recommended actions are:

  • Assess inhaler technique
  • Review medication
  • Provide a written asthma action plan
  • Consider factors that might trigger or worsen asthma
  • Deliver timely follow up arrangements in the community

Dr White, who led the group which created the care bundle, said: "The discharge of asthma patients from hospital provides a golden window of opportunity to review their care and promote effective management of their asthma for the future.

"Using all of the latest evidence, we have devised five simple and effective actions that hospital-based health professionals can take to promote better patient self-management and reduce hospital readmissions."

Consultant Dr Lisa Davies, who chairs the society’s executive committee, said it was a tragedy that so many people died from asthma each year in the UK.

"One way to reduce this tragic toll is to really learn the lessons about why a patient has been admitted to hospital for asthma.

Asthma UK Chief Executive, Kay Boycott, said more must be done to stop asthma attacks and end complacency in asthma care. "If someone ends up in hospital we want them to leave with the right medication, an asthma action plan and knowing that they need to see their GP.

“These simple steps, if taken by hospital staff, could make the difference between life and death to people with asthma."