Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley
Asthma Protect Programme

In partnership with Swanley and Rural PCN, Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Health and Care Partnership and 
ECLIPSE (Equality of Care Led Insights for Patient Safety & Engagement) 

Practice Pro-Forma

Project overview: 

A new and exciting programme is being offered to practices across the Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Health and Care Partnership to identify Children & Young People (CYP) and adults with high inhaler utilisation.  

Using Eclipse, the programme will centrally identify Children & Young People and adults with high SABA utilisation, risk stratify the cohort, engage with them centrally via Eclipse’s digital engagement platform (SMS) with a link to an informative lander page and an online questionnaire to gather patient preferences. Where clinically appropriate, patients will be invited to attend their surgery for review and optimisation of their current asthma care plan.  

Objectives:  

The objectives of this programme: 

  • Reduction in SABA utilisation   

  • Increased diagnosis and appropriate coding of Children & Young People and adults with asthma   

  • Increased number of coded respiratory reviews   

  • Reduction in emergency admissions   

  • Reduction in longitudinal ACT (Asthma Controlled Test) score 

Patient identification 
Patients of focus for this programme will be those aged <18 years old with >6 SABA inhalers issued in the preceding 12 months and patients aged >18 years old with >6 SABA inhalers issued in the preceding 12 months. 

Patient engagement and prioritisation: 
Once identified, patients/caregiver will be contacted centrally via Eclipse’s digital patient engagement platform by SMS, with a link to an informative lander page. They will then be guided through a dynamic questionnaire which will capture additional risk factors and preferences related to this service. This, along with their recorded clinical information, will form the basis of prioritisation for offering review and medication optimisation.  

Step 1: Completing their asthma questionnaire - this is accessed via a link at the bottom of the lander page and will allow patients/caregivers to respond to questions regarding their current asthma symptoms, management, and general wellbeing. This gives them an opportunity to tell the healthcare team how they are doing and allows the clinical team to review whether the patient may benefit from a further asthma review. 

Step 2: If the patient/caregiver has indicated that the patient has significant asthma symptoms, complications, or concerns – the surgery can invite them for a more detailed asthma review. The lander page advises the patient/caregiver that this asthma review will allow the clinical team to ask more detailed questions about their asthma and that they may undergo some additional useful tests such as spirometry.  

Step 3: The patient will be offered an asthma review appointment at the surgery to review the current treatment plan and/or be given educational materials to support their current asthma management care plan. 

By going through this review process, the patient could benefit from the following: 

  • Improved asthma control - including symptoms, exercise tolerance and quality of life 

  • Improved knowledge about their condition and how best to manage it 

  • Reduced chance of an emergency admission to hospital 

  • A review of their medications 

 

If your practice would like to take part: Please complete the below pro forma, expressing your interest and permissions for patient engagement.  

Please note that you will be notified prior to any active patient engagement, and your practice will be issued with a guide on how to view patient lists and document patient reviews.