Diagnosing and Treating Asthma

There are more than 100,000 people living with asthma across Humber and North Yorkshire (HNY). Asthma is an inflammatory disease that affects the airways in the lung, leading sufferers to experience symptoms such as breathlessness, cough and wheeze that typically vary over time.

The HNY Respiratory Network and HNY Children and Young People’s (CYP) Transformation Programme are passionate about ensuring that everyone with asthma across the region can access high quality and sustainable asthma care.

Asthma guidelines

It is well established that over-use of short-acting beta agonist (SABA) inhalers and under-use of steroid containing inhalers (ICS) in asthma is associated with increased risk of asthma attacks and asthma related deaths. Humber and North Yorkshire (HNY) has historically had high levels of SABA-use.

2023 HNY Asthma Guidelines

In 2023, the HNY Respiratory Clinical Network and Children and Young People’s (CYP) Transformation Programme developed the first, unified HNY Asthma Guidelines. The guidelines were developed collaboratively by asthma clinicians and patients from across the region to develop a unified approach to managing asthma across all ages. They have been used by clinicians from across the ICB to inform treatment decisions.

The HNY Asthma Guidelines recognise the importance of identifying and addressing SABA over-use in asthma and ensuring people with asthma receive the anti-inflammatory (steroid containing) inhalers that they need to control their asthma. Since publication of the guidelines, there has been a significant reduction in SABA over-use within HNY.

2025 HNY Revised Asthma Guidelines

Following publication of the BTS/NICE/SIGN Joint Asthma Guideline in November 2024, the HNY guidelines have been revised by clinicians across HNY, to ensure alignment with best practice. The revised guidelines continue to recognise the importance of identifying and addressing SABA over-use in asthma.

The revised guidelines include recommendations for the following patient groups:

Confirmed Asthma in Children Aged 5 -11 Years Old
Confirmed Asthma in People Aged ≥ 12 Years Old
Suspected Severe Asthma (Aged ≥ 12 years)

The asthma guidelines are intended for use by clinicians working in Humber and North Yorkshire. These guidelines have been developed to inform treatment decisions for:

People with suspected asthma that are awaiting objective diagnostic testing
People with newly diagnosed asthma
People with uncontrolled asthma considered by their clinician to require a change in treatment
People considered by their clinician to require a change in asthma treatment for another reason
through shared decision making.

HNY 2-5 Guideline [link when available]

HNY 5-11 and 12 and Over Guideline [link when available]

Supporting guideline implementation resources

To improve the care for asthma sufferers across the region, it is essential that guideline recommended care is implemented into practice. For this reason, the HNY Respiratory Network and HNY CYP Transformation Programme have developed a range of resources and educational materials to support practice change.

Launch Webinar on 24^th October 2023 Recordings:

Transforming Asthma Care – Why Asthma Care Needs to Improve

Transforming Asthma Care – HNY Adult Asthma Guidelines

Transforming Asthma Care – HNY CYP Asthma Guidelines

Transforming Asthma Care – MMES and Practical application

Educational videos:

Inhaler Technique in Children and Young People (youtube.com)

Asthma Coding (YouTube)

Medicine Management Enhanced Service:

Medicine Management Enhanced Service Scheme 2023/2024 – Asthma Implementation guidance and advice

Frequently Asked Questions

Useful websites