World Asthma Day: transforming care for children and young people with asthma
Asthma affects around 1 in 11 children in the UK and remains a leading cause of emergency department visits and hospital admissions, impacting school attendance, physical activity and overall wellbeing.
On World Asthma Day, NHS teams and partners across Surrey and Sussex are highlighting how a neighbourhood-based approach is improving outcomes for children and young people (CYP) with wheeze and asthma.
The NHS, public health, education, housing, voluntary sector organisations, families and children and young people have been working together to deliver the National bundle of care in innovative ways across the region.
Across Surrey and Sussex, partners are delivering a range of initiatives to improve prevention, education and care:
- Asthma Friendly and Asthma Aware Schools programmes, to equip schools to care for any child who has asthma during the school day.
- National asthma training embedded across schools, primary care and NHS services.
- Proactive care reviews for children and young people at highest risk of asthma attacks.
- Innovative models such as “Asthma Smart Kids Club” and “Beyond the Clinic”, combining clinical care, education and links to the wider determinants of health.
- Integration of wider support, including clear smoking cessation pathways, development of a new housing referral template and looking at air quality.
Co-produced education materials for families.
This work is delivering measurable impact. For example, since implementation, Sussex has seen a 32.1% reduction in local A&E visits and a 64.4% reduction in unplanned hospital admissions for children and young people with wheeze or asthma symptoms and a 19.7% reduction in salbutamol prescribing for children and young people with wheeze or asthma symptoms.
Staff across health, education and community settings report increased confidence in recognising and managing asthma, with more consistent care and earlier identification of children at higher risk. Parents and carers also report greater confidence in managing asthma at home, helping to prevent escalation and reduce avoidable emergency visits.
One of the programme’s pilot models, Beyond the clinic, brought specialist clinicians into a primary care setting to review CYP with asthma, linking care with schools and addressing wider determinants of health. This model was recently presented at the King’s John Price Paediatric Respiratory Conference, the largest paediatric respiratory conference in Europe.
Chris Newland, Paediatric Advanced Nurse Practitioner and CYP Asthma Joint Clinical Lead, said:
The goal for us is fewer emergencies and more confidence for families in managing asthma day to day. Being able to share this work at a national conference shows what’s possible when we bring teams together across primary and secondary care.
Davina Piper, Paediatric Asthma Nurse, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said:
Being involved in a pilot based in a primary care setting gave me real insight into the realities of primary care and reinforced the importance of closer collaboration to better support children and young people.
Oana Anton, Paediatric Consultant in Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust said:
The ICB played a vital role in turning shared ambition into action. The feedback from families and staff has been overwhelmingly positive, and we’re excited to continue building on this model to deliver more joined up care.
Rita Araújo, Head of Children’s, NHS Surrey and Sussex, said:
This programme shows what integrated care looks like. By aligning partners around the needs of children and families, we are improving outcomes, reducing inequalities and building a model that can be sustained and scaled.
Together, this work reflects a shared commitment across Surrey and Sussex to improve life for children with wheeze and asthma, helping them to stay well, stay in school and live active, healthy lives.