All health professionals need to have the competence, knowledge, skills and confidence to care and treat children and young people (CYP) with respiratory disease. The National Bundle of Care (NBC) for CYP with asthma has a section on training and competencies (National Capabilities Framework for professionals who care for CYP with asthma)

Good integrated care is vital for managing long term conditions well. Evidence from Finland suggests a simple integrated approach decreases asthma mortality and emergency bed days resulting in improved quality at decreased cost.

Education and training

Free online training courses

Slides to support teaching

Workforce

Sample job descriptions

Alternative models of workforce

There is an opportunity to build an alternative workforce which includes peer and health advocates. Consider innovative ways to engage people through the use of community advocates, peer educators similar to those used in diabetes the ‘Know Diabetes’ project in northwest London.

The Community Champions UK programme builds on the skills and knowledge of local communities in northwest London. It involves Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and the City of Westminster.

The PACE Setter Award UK is an initiative for Primary and Community Care in the NHS, designed by those working within the primary and community care sector. The South East Coast Strategic Clinical Network (SEC SCN) for Children and Young People have piloted the approach. It is a voluntary but formal system for recognising, celebrating, promoting and sharing excellence in the provision of health services to Children and Young People. A PACE Setter organisation will be known by its younger patients, and their carers and families, to be committed to the provision of well-designed, consistent, coordinated, family-friendly and patient-centred care.

Award winners at the NPRANG conference, Hillingdon’s role modelling asthma clinic project supports and upskills practice nurses in primary care enabling more children’s asthma services to be co-delivered in the community/neighbourhoods within primary care networks with support from a specialist nurse team.