Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to expand access to treatments for severe asthma in the South West of England.
Jane Ellison
Services for people with severe asthma are commissioned by NHS England in line with national specifications to ensure patient numbers are sufficient to support safe services.
We are advised by NHS England that in the South West there are currently treatment hubs in Bristol and Taunton that provide services for children; and services for adult in hubs at Bristol, Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth, Swindon and Gloucestershire.
NHS England advises that other asthma services are commissioned locally, via community providers and primary care (general practice and pharmacy).
In the constituency of Bath, we are informed by NHS England that asthma is largely managed by primary care providers, while more complex patients with severe or difficult asthma are seen by the acute respiratory teams. We are assured by NHS England that secondary care services in the area are both appropriate and accessible for patients with acute asthma and that NHS Bath and North East Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group has no plans to change or expand its existing asthma provision at this time.
