Course Overview

This comprehensive one-day Asthma Update course is designed for registered healthcare professionals already delivering asthma care within Primary Care settings.

The programme builds on existing clinical knowledge and focuses on current guidance, emerging evidence, and practical challenges in asthma management. Teaching is aligned with NICE NG80, BTS/SIGN guidance, and the latest GINA strategy recommendations.

The course emphasises safe prescribing, risk identification, inhaler optimisation, and structured long-term management. Particular attention is given to high-risk patients, SABA overuse, MART (Maintenance and Reliever Therapy), and lessons learned from the National Review of Asthma Deaths (NRAD).

Learning is interactive, case-based, and clinically focused, supporting participants to refine decision-making and strengthen asthma services within their practice.

Who Should Attend

This course is suitable for:

- Practice Nurses with asthma management responsibilities
- Advanced Clinical Practitioners
- General Practitioners
- Primary Care Pharmacists
- Respiratory leads within practices or PCNs

Participants should already have experience conducting asthma reviews and managing inhaled therapy.

What This Course Covers

Diagnostic Refinement

- Revisiting asthma diagnosis in adults and children
- Diagnostic uncertainty and differential diagnoses
- Role of objective testing (spirometry, FeNO, peak flow variability)
- Challenges in paediatric diagnosis

Guideline Updates and Application

- NICE NG80 updates
- BTS/SIGN and GINA strategy developments
- Areas of alignment and divergence
- Applying guidance safely within Primary Care

Pharmacological Optimisation

- Stepwise management updates
- MART (SMART) therapy in practice
- SABA overuse and risk recognition
- Escalation to high-dose ICS or combination therapy
- Adherence assessment and inhaler technique optimisation

Risk Stratification and Safety

- Identifying high-risk asthma patients
- Learning from NRAD findings
- Preventing exacerbations and hospital admissions
- Recognising red flags
- When to refer for specialist review

Exacerbation Management

- Assessing severity
- Safe community management
- Steroid stewardship considerations
- Safety-netting and follow-up

Case-Based Clinical Discussion

- Complex patient scenarios
- Difficult-to-control asthma
- Comorbidities and multimorbidity
- Shared learning and peer discussion

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

- Apply current NICE, BTS/SIGN and GINA guidance confidently
- Identify and manage high-risk asthma patients
- Optimise inhaler therapy and implement MART appropriately
- Recognise SABA overuse and associated risks
- Conduct structured, safety-focused asthma reviews
- Manage exacerbations safely within Primary Care
- Identify when referral or specialist input is required

Course Format

Duration: Full-day (approximately 6 hours teaching time)

Delivery: Virtual or face-to-face

Format includes:

- Structured teaching sessions
- Case-based discussion
- Interactive clinical scenarios
- Peer discussion and problem-solving

Certification

Certificate of attendance provided for CPD and revalidation purposes.