For clinicians
Respiratory prescribing
Personal asthma action plans
There is substantial evidence to support the value of personalised actions plans for asthma in both adults and children. Clinicians should refer to local guidance and resources. A generic template is also available from Asthma action plans | Asthma + Lung UK
Stepping down of chronic asthma drugs
Following a period of stable asthma, clinicians should consider stepping down treatment. The state of the art review ‘Why and how to step down chronic asthma drugs’ on the BMJ website provides a helpful reference source.
Charity resources
Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, Asthma + Lung UK and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation have lots of information to support health care professionals and patients. There are patient leaflets, booklets and toolkits available for use and both have a patient helpline providing advice.
RESPe
RESPe is a free online learning resource provided by CHSS working with the University of Edinburgh for all healthcare professionals
Resources to assist GP practices to review environmentally friendly respiratory prescribing
Respiratory care | PrescQIPP C.I.C
PrescQIPP respiratory care resources and campaign materials (developed jointly by NHS England and PresQIPP) showcase good practice examples of projects in respiratory care and signpost to self-care resources available for organisations to use to support their own respiratory care campaigns.
PrescQIPP Inhaler carbon footprint bulletin
Patient information resources to support environmentally friendly prescribing are included in the resources listed within the bulletin e.g. What should I do if I need to use my reliever inhaler often for my asthma? An example patient information leaflet from PrescQIPP, which can be adapted for local use, is available here as a pdf.
Greener practice has a toolkit designed to help UK general practices improve asthma outcomes whilst also reducing carbon emissions. It contains step-by-step Quality Improvement (QI) projects. Project resources include downloadable searches, educational videos, templates and patient information. An example patient information leaflet is 'Inhalers and the environment - choosing an inhaler which is good for you and good for the planet'
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Green Impact for Health toolkit can help any general practice improve their sustainability and environmental impact; reduce their harmful impact on planetary health, the risks of climate change and reduce their practice expenses. It answers the question – ‘What can we do in our practice?’ and covers many aspects, including prescribing of inhalers.
Sustainable Respiratory Care resources
The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH) offers strategic input and consultancy on sustainable healthcare research and practice to national and local programmes. There is a CSH network for sustainable respiratory care with many resources and projects shared. Join the network to access their resources.