In this PCRS Health Inequalities podcast Katherine Hickman (PCRS executive chair, Kaniksha Aggarwal, Martin Sutcliffe and Sue Wheatcroft discuss respiratory disease and mental health in the context of the UK prison setting. They touch on:

The new BTS/NICE/SIGN guideline, Asthma: Diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management (NG245) has placed fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) early in the diagnostic algorithm, which has caused some concern. Many healthcare settings do not have access to FeNO and are not therefore familiar with its use. It also has cost implications for healthcare commissioners across the UK, at a time when they have been asked to reduce running costs. 

Respiratory disease and mental health are interlinked in many ways, with respiratory conditions often impacting mental wellbeing and vice versa. NHS England states that people with severe and enduring mental illness are at greater risk of poor physical health and reduced life expectancy compared to the general population.

Point-of-care testing of C-reactive protein (CRP) for the acute assessment of worsening symptoms in people known to have COPD can safely reduce the use of antibiotics and could help improve the diagnostic approach towards someone presenting in such a crisis. New high-quality evidence has emerged since the last NICE COPD update and we encourage re-opening and review of the current guideline to enable clinicians and system leaders to understand whether and how to implement this promising diagnostic aid.PCRS advocates that:

With the summer holidays fast approaching, many will be planning trips abroad and booking flights for warm and sunny destinations. However, flying can be a very challenging way to travel for many people with respiratory disease.Joining Katherine to discuss all things air travel and respiratory disease was Professor Robina Coker who established the BTS Air Travel Working Party and chaired the Clinical Statement on Air Travel and Lung Disease which was published in Thorax in 2022.

Corinne Beirne, Advanced Nurse Practitioner and Amanda Roberts, from PCRS’s patient reference group, discuss what constitutes a good asthma review from a patient’s perspective.

There are various forms of rhinitis, which is defined as inflammation of the nasal

2024 marked a pivotal change in the management of asthma in the UK with the publication of a joint British Thoracic Society (BTS), National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline. This guideline, ‘Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management’, has the potential to be the paradigm shift that is needed to improve asthma care in the UK.In the 2024 BTS/NICE/SIGN guideline1 there is a clear statement that says:

As a summary, this policy statement advocates: