Helping our patients who have ASTHMA to get
the best from the practice, the NHS and other resources you might find
useful
Terms highlighted in RED
are key words that you should find in
your own medical record. Staffare highlighted in BLUE.
Equipment is highlighted in GREEN.
You may ask why?The most recent patient survey has shown that
patients want to be able to see the clinician sooner (ie less than 2 weeks) and
on time (ie not have to wait an hour for a scheduled appointment) and feel that
all their concerns have been met. It has been independently confirmed that the
practice already offers more appointments than the average to its patients.
So how can we meet
the demand? Being prepared for the consultation greatly
helps as does recognising the length of the appointment slot and helping the
clinician to stay within the time limit.
You may ask how?
There are some simple steps that are essential for you to understand, that
will help you on your journey of discovery for your health and well-being:
What do you need to
see in your record? Your record should state that
you have Asthma.
What does that
mean? Here are some links for asthma that you may wish
to see. Please note that asthma in CHILDREN is different to asthma in ADULTS. The treatment and management plans are different. Asthma is a serious condition and can lead to death if not managed appropriately. See the links below and to the side to learn more. Take the Triple A Test to help avoid asthma attacks.
What help is
available for you to use? Asthma is primarily managed by
the practice nurses who are supported
by the doctors in the practice. They treat both CHILDREN and ADULTS too.
The pharmacist
knows a lot about the devices too and can help you too if you are not sure.
The websites listed above will
give you lots of information to help you. (Please let us know if you find other
resources that our patients could benefit from).
What does asthma
mean for you? You need to know
what asthma is, what trigger factors cause your asthma to worsen, how to
monitor your asthma (including ensuring you take your medicines on time, have
your flu jab, ensure you stop smoking and have regular reviews of your asthma
with your nurse or doctor), identify when your symptoms are worsening, what to
do if you have an exacerbation (you should have a personal action plan) and see
the nurse or doctor if you are admitted into hospital for a further review.
What needs to
happen now and in the future? The typical patient with
asthma should:
See the nurse at least once a
year for a review of their asthma. This may need to be more often if your
control is poor.
Stop smoking. If you are still
smoking then it is essential you get help to stop smoking.
What can you do to
help?
Get access to your GP-held electronic health record. Without knowing what is in your records and what you need to do, it
will be very hard to know what to do when and with who. This is an essential
first step for anybody with any condition or who wants the best from the
practice.
Get a PEAK FLOW meter and bring your Peak Flow readings if
you have been monitoring them. You can record your own readings by downloading a form here.
Look at the web page –
pre-consultation care – and go through it prior to your review with the
clinician. This can help us to understand your needs better and what you want
out of the consultation.
How are we doing?
The Quality Outcomes Framework was set up so that practices can look at how
successful they are in delivering services to their practice population and
also give an opportunity to see how we compare with others around the country.
This data is readily available from here (www.qof.ic.nhs.uk/search.asp). Overall we
got 937 points out of a maximum of 1000 last year indicating that we are a very
high performing practice across the board which is reassuring for you and us. We achieved a maximum score in the Asthma
domain gaining all 45 points that were allocated for this. Although we
performed spectacularly, there is still some room for improvement. For
instance, are you one of the few patients that has not had your smoking status
recorded? Or perhaps you have not had an asthma review in the last 15 months or
perhaps you have not had reversibility testing done to confirm the diagnosis of
your asthma.
How can you help us
do even better and help other patients too? This is
very important. In your journey of discovery about your health, you may come
across odd things that do not make sense about the way the practice runs and
you may have a better suggestion. Or you may come across something new that we
have not considered that helps you even more. Tell us about it next time you
see a clinician or preferably write it down and hand it in or send it as a
comment to the Patient
Participation Group (PPG) so that they can bring it up with
the practice the next time we meet up. Even better, why don’t you join the PPG
and become an active member. We are always on the look out for new members and
new ideas.
Most importantly, by working together and
understanding each other’s needs better, we can help you to get the best out of
the practice and the wider NHS.
0161 336 3005
