Guidelines

The initial focus of the work of the National Clinical Programme for Asthma (NCPA) has been on the development and implementation of national asthma guidelines based on international best practice both for acute care and ongoing asthma management.

• Emergency Paediatric Asthma Guideline (2013) – A discussion document which outlines the management of the Acute Paediatric Asthma Patient
• Asthma Control in General Practice (2013) Adapted from the GINA Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention
• Asthma Check - Chronic Disease Watch – Asthma (2012) A discussion document which outlines the step-by-step process for implementation of guideline based asthma management in primary care
• Emergency Treatment Care Bundles – see the National Clinical Guidelines for the Management of an Acute Asthma Attack in Adults (2015)
• National Clinical Guidelines for the Management of an Acute Asthma Attack in Adults (2015)

Healthcare Professional Education

A comprehensive education programme for health care professionals has been developed. For any healthcare professional who needs to or wishes to update their knowledge, a self-learning asthma E-Learning theoretical programme based on the national evidence based guidelines and developed by NCPA in conjunction with Asthma Society of Ireland (ASI) is available for free on  www.hseland.ie and www.asthma.ie. This will enable healthcare professionals to underpin their skill sets with theory. There is also a similar programme available for GPs on ICGP website.

Patient Education

Up to date information is available for patients and their families and carers. These easily accessible patient asthma education supports have been implemented in conjunction with the NCPA’s key stakeholder, the Asthma Society of Ireland, to assist in guided self-management for this chronic condition. These are also jointly available on the HSE website and on www.asthma.ie

Respiratory Integrated Care

Designed and provides implementation support, in conjunction with the National Clinical Programme for COPD, for the Respiratory Integrated Care services which are being rolled out in seven CHO areas and are linked to 15 acute hospitals. The pupose of the service is to improve the diagnosis and management of COPD and asthma in the community.

National Model of Care for Asthma

The NCPA has developed a National Model of Care (MOC) for Asthma which details how physicians, nurses and other health care professionals will work with patients to make clinical decisions most appropriate to their circumstances; and to collaborate with specialist colleagues in providing a safe, seamless patient experience within the health system in Ireland. This will be finalised and published shortly.