Article Text
Abstract
Introduction and objectives Asthma and COPD present a significant resource impact to the NHS. Earlier diagnosis may reduce morbidity and improve quality of life. In the UK, premature mortality from COPD is almost twice the European average and for asthma over 1.5 times the European average. This project sponsored by Teva Respiratory aims to identify differences in perceptions of various stakeholder groups regarding effective outcome improvements in asthma and COPD and make relevant recommendations.
Methods This group met with the objective of defining consensus statements for the future development of services in asthma and COPD. These statements were tested across a broad respondent sample by questionnaire. A Delphi methodology was used to assess levels of agreement with each statement. Questionnaires were offered to health care professionals across specialties reflecting the roles of this group for completion as paper documents at Teva Respiratory sponsored UK meetings between June 2015 and January 2016.
Results 184 respondents, split across varied professional roles, completed questionnaires. 24 out of 42 statement scores (57%) exceeded the 66% agreement threshold and are thus regarded as supportive of the statements. Some variance was seen in responses between care settings (Figure 1), with primary care respondents commonly indicating lower levels of agreement than their secondary care colleagues (24 out of 42 statements (57%)).
Conclusions Most respondents indicate that it is possible to deliver effective care across all care settings that the patient will encounter. The need for further development of local integrated care approaches is well recognised. Respondents are ambivalent regarding the prioritisation of asthma and COPD, the variance may reflect differences in prioritisation between localities. There is strong agreement that definition of appropriate outcomes will support value-based care models and that interaction between professions is critical to effective integration of care. Respondents agreed there is a sound rationale for the use of branded inhaler therapies in asthma and COPD, which may liberate finite resources for other areas.
Based on this consensus exercise, 10 key recommendations for optimising outcomes in asthma and COPD are offered.