Important Asthma information and advice

Advice and Information - 18 July 2024

As the end of the school term approaches, parents and carers in the Black Country are being reminded of the importance of managing their child’s asthma over the summer.

Asthma is a lung condition that affects around one in every 11 children and causes symptoms like coughing, wheezing and breathlessness.

It varies from one child to the next, but most types of asthma can be managed well by using a preventer inhaler every day to control their asthma. A reliever (blue) inhaler may be needed occasionally if symptoms flare up.
A young girl in a focus group

The NHS has created a video with a Black Country respiratory nurse, Louise Tipping, discussing the importance of keeping of top of your child’s asthma over the summer holidays. You can watch the video on YouTube here.

Louise said: “Asthma attacks tend to increase significantly in September after the school holidays, likely due to disruptions in medication routines during the summer break. However, by taking a few simple steps, parents can help their child to avoid asthma attacks and enjoy the summer as much as anyone else.

“Even if your child is feeling well and has been running around all summer, it’s vital to keep on top of their asthma medication and ensure they’re taking their preventer inhaler as instructed by their GP or asthma nurse. This means they’ll have the best level of protection before they head back into the classroom.

“Follow your child’s personal asthma action plan and keep it handy so you know what to do if their symptoms are triggered. And, importantly, always be asthma ready. An asthma attack can be life-threatening, and you should make sure your child always keeps an in-date reliever inhaler (usually blue) with them.”

Anyone with asthma is at risk of having an asthma attack, which usually needs urgent medical treatment. Asthma attacks can even be fatal. This is why it is crucial to ensure children and young people take their medication even when feeling well, and to take action if their asthma seems to be getting worse.

For more information on how to manage your child’s asthma, visit the Black Country 0-18 website.

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Local people are invited to attend the NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board’s (ICB) Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The AGM is being held on Thursday 19 September, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm, and will be hosted online using Microsoft Teams.

The meeting is open to all members of the public and provides an opportunity to learn more about the organisation and the work that has been carried out in the last 12 months.

Mark Axcell, Chief Executive Officer for the NHS Black Country ICB, said: “Our AGM is an opportunity for us to look back on the ICBs work over the last 12 months and review our achievements and challenges, whilst also reflecting on the ever-changing challenges facing the NHS as we look to the future.

“We want the Black Country community to be as involved as possible in these conversations and we extend a warm welcome to local people to join us and take part in this year’s meeting.

“Public questions are an important part of our meetings and provide an opportunity for people to share what matters most to them about the local NHS. So, if you have a question, please do submit it in advance and we can respond."

For those interested in attending, please reserve your spot online here. A virtual meeting link will be sent to you via the email you registered your attendance with on Wednesday 18 September. If you haven’t received a meeting link by 5pm on this date, please email comms.blackcountry@nhs.net.

Members of the public who would like to send in a question should email bcicb.gb@nhs.net by 5pm on Monday 16 September.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to contact us by telephone to confirm your attendance or ask any questions, please contact our Time2Talk team on 0300 0120 281 and select option 1.
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Review of clinical policies in stages to reduce differences in access to healthcare services in the Black Country.

We are continuing our review of clinical policies in stages to reduce differences in access to healthcare services in the Black Country.

stage 1 concluded on 28 February 2024 – read a report detailing the findings from the involvement exercise and feedback.
stage 2 concluded on 19 March 2024 - read a report detailing the findings from the involvement exercise and feedback
stage 3 commenced on 22 July and will conclude on 16 August 2024
All views gathered in this public involvement exercise will help inform our final decision-making on these policies.

In July 2022, NHS Black Country ICB took over local healthcare planning from the former clinical commissioning group (CCG) serving the areas of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton.

Since its establishment, the ICB have been reviewing its clinical policies. This includes:
Reviewing the four existing CCG policies to harmonise them into one new position for the ICB
implementing new policies to take into account national clinical guidelines and best practice.
While the majority of their clinical policies were similar, several clinical policies had some differences. To address these differences, commissioning policies for treatments listed on the webpage are being reviewed to look at how they can be made the same for the places of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton.

Clinical experts have looked at the latest evidence and practice for all of these services, both nationally and locally, to ensure the local offer is high quality and safe.

The clinical policy review will be carried out in stages. Stage 3 of the involvement exercise is now live to collect wider views and feedback from local people and staff to inform our final decision-making. The closing date for comments is Friday 16 August 2024.

Visit the ICB website to find out more information and have your say
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