Primary care research and clinical practice: respiratory disease

Abstract

Primary care respiratory research has contributed to the evidence base for both the clinical care of common longterm respiratory conditions and the management of acute respiratory illness. Key areas include investigating the role of remote consultations in ensuring regular professional reviews for people with asthma, understanding and evaluating the use of technology to support patient selfcare, exploring aspects of the shift of services for longterm conditions from secondary to primary care, investigating primary care prescribing using computerised databases of anonymised medical records, and tackling inequalities in provision of care for ethnic minorities. Further research will be needed in all these areas as the ongoing and increasing challenge of providing support for people with long-term conditions will demand innovative approaches to organisation of care, many of which will involve or be led by primary care.

Opportunities to develop the professional role of community pharmacists in the care of patients with asthma: a cross-sectional study

“…However, deficiencies in the quality of care provided by GPs have been observed including, inadequate provision of written asthma action plans, lack of guideline compliant practice and suboptimal patient outcomes. 4–6 One issue that impedes optimal asthma management by GPs is the lack of routine asthma visits by patients, 4,7,8 limiting the opportunities for patient education and chronic disease management. GPs observe that patients present only at times of acute exacerbations of asthma.…”

Systems for the management of respiratory disease in primary care — an international series: United Kingdom

“…79 A range of primary care academic departments have particular interest in respiratory disease, including the Universities of Edinburgh (allergy and respiratory research), Aberdeen (primary care respiratory medicine), Cardiff (respiratory infections), Queen Mary, University of London (respiratory health (including TB) in ethnic groups) and Peninsula Medical School (COPD and community-based pulmonary rehabilitation). 80 Educational support for health professionals is available from independent charities such as Education for Health (www.educationforhealth.org) and Respiratory Education UK (www.respiratoryeduk.com). These organisations offer distance, blended and e-learning modules in the prevention, early diagnosis, appropriate treatment and effective management of respiratory diseases from paediatric to end-of-life care.…”

Assessment of cardinal respiratory symptoms at the internal medicine outpatient clinic of Suhaj Teaching Hospital

“…Respiratory diseases constitute a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]. In the UK, respiratory disease is responsible for more primary care consultations compared with any other type of illness [2]. Chronic respiratory diseases are projected to rank as the fifth leading cause of morbidity by 2020 [3].…”