Hospitals face asthma surge
Monday November 14th, 2011
The north west of England has suffered the greatest problem with asthma in the last year, according to new figures.
Rates of
hospital admission for the disease in the region are about a third greater
than the average for England, according to the NHS Information Centre
analysis.
And in the Blackburn area of Lancashire the problem is even more acute - some 430 admissions represented a rate more than twice the national average.
In the year to July some 12,110 people were admitted to hospital in the north west with asthma out of a total of 68,530 across England.
This represented a 1.7 per cent increase on the previous year.
The second highest rate of admissions is in the north-east and the lowest in the south-west region, the figures show.
Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: "These figures only reflect the most serious of asthma cases, where the patient needs to be admitted to hospital, and it is important to bear in mind that different regions may have different approaches to managing asthma in primary and secondary care.
"Nevertheless, today's report does point to the North West as a hot spot for asthma admissions; information which will be of key interest to health professionals and the NHS, as well as the wider public."
Tags: Allergies & Asthma | NHS | UK News
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