The Coronavirus pandemic has created a challenging environment for the delivery of care to patients with respiratory disease.

Basic quality respiratory care is improving but there are key areas where practices and teams could transform care, according to the latest report from the National Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Audit Programme (NACAP).

As the number of coronavirus cases rises in the UK PCRS is advising primary care teams to ensure that at-risk respiratory patients are aware of everything they can do to protect themselves.

A new QOF indicator, which requires a diagnosis of COPD to have results of spirometry consistent with airways obstruction, has been approved by NICE. PCRS has campaigned for this change in practice for many years.

PCRS is highlighting the need for NICE to review the introduction of point of care test C-reactive protein (CRP) - guided assessments for people presenting with COPD crises, following the emergence of new evidence.

New guidance from PCRS addresses the latest concerns about the safety of e-cigarettes and advises healthcare professionals how to support an estimated 3.2 million patients who use them to stop inhaling burned tobacco.

NICE has overturned a 2017 recommendation to quadruple the dose of inhaled corticosteroids for children when their asthma control deteriorates.

The PCRS Conference Report 2019 is now online.  It contains a summary of the key clinical, service development and plenary sessions of the three day event held in Telford in September 2019.

PCRS is currently advertising for a new CEO following Anne Smith’s decision to step down as Chief Executive (CE) of the Primary Care Respiratory Society (PCRS) on 1 May 2020.

Lung cancer patients diagnosed via emergency hospital admission are five times more likely to die within a year than those referred for treatment by their GP says a new report.

Nearly one million smokers in England would have been helped to quit smoking if funding for stop smoking services had been maintained, reports the Taskforce for Lung Health, of which PCRS is a member.

Updated guidance, endorsed by PCRS, to help healthcare professionals identify and manage people with COPD at risk of malnutrition, has been produced by a multi professional panel.

After a close election, PCRS congratulates Katherine Hickman, Vince Mak, Daryl Freeman and Ren Lawlor who have been elected for a three year term of office on the PCRS Executive. Katherine, Vince and Daryl were re-elected to their posts.

Health professionals are being asked to encourage smokers to try a New Year quit attempt which could improve both their mental and overall health.

A new PCRS consensus based article offers clarity on the role of leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs) as a first line add-on treatment in asthma and other controversial issues in asthma diagnosis and management.