The UK National Health Service (NHS) has launched the PRECISION Asthma Mobile Clinic provided by AstraZeneca, which will partner with local NHS respiratory services to accelerate delivery of asthma care. More than one in 20 patients in the UK postponed emergency care due to the COVID-19 pandemic and more than a quarter of patients avoided receiving treatment by general practitioners (GPs), according to a report by Asthma UK. Further, it is estimated that approximately 3.5 million of the 5.4 million people diagnosed with asthma in the UK are not receiving a “basic level of care.” In response, the UK National Health Service (NHS) has launched the PRECISION Asthma Mobile Clinic (or “asthma bus”) provided by AstraZeneca, which will partner with local NHS respiratory services to accelerate the delivery of asthma care.
A respiratory nurse realized that understanding asthma could help children gain better disease control, and reduce emergency department attendance and length of hospital admissions. She wanted to reach children quickly and cover a geographical area efficiently. So she asked, “Could we have an asthma bus?” Emma Bushell, a respiratory nurse specialist in children’s services at the Frimley Health Foundation Trust, realized that understanding asthma could help children gain better disease control, and reduce emergency department attendance and length of hospital admissions. She wanted to reach children quickly and cover a geographical area efficiently. So she asked, “Could we have an asthma bus?” She was told, “If you can find a bus and fund it, then you can have one.” The first annual bus was launched in 2016 and data showed a positive effect. In addition, the initiative won the Respiratory Nursing category in the 2017 Nursing Times Awards.