Work has commenced on a National Review of Asthma Deaths (NRAD) across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The project has been commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) and is led by The Royal College of Physicians (RCP), in partnership with a consortium of professional and patient bodies concerned with asthma.
Every year around 1,200 people die in the UK as a result of asthma. Previous research in the past 50 years, has suggested that preventable factors can be identified in up to 90% of cases. The aim of the project is to understand why people of all ages die from asthma so that recommendations can be made to help prevent deaths from asthma in the future. The project aims to review all deaths across the UK from asthma in children and adults for one year, beginning in February 2012. Hospitals and GPs will be asked to participate, and all confirmed cases of death from asthma will be included in a multidisciplinary confidential enquiry. This UK-wide review will provide evidence to influence clinical guidelines, policy and practice and in time help reduce the number of preventable asthma deaths.
