Local NHS launches new asthma app for children

NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are proud to be supporting the national #AskAboutAsthma week beginning Monday 12 September 2022. The week is being marked across the county with the launch of a new app aimed at helping children and young people to better manage their asthma.

Around 5,000 children and young people are registered as asthmatic across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.

The new app called the 'Digital Health Passport' will help educate children and parents about the condition and is tailored to their individual needs.

In addition, the NHS has recently funded specialist nurses to support asthma education and reviews in the area, which will lead to a rise in annual asthma reviews and training offered to primary care staff and schools. There is also a plan to invest in a pilot diagnostic hub to better enable the NHS to identify more patients with asthma at an early stage.

Lynette Charles, Lead Children’s Respiratory Nurse at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said “We are delighted to have secured funding for additional services to support children and young people with asthma in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.

“As well as recruiting specialist nurses to help run reviews and education sessions, we are also embracing digital technology in an effort to make a real difference to young people with asthma.

“The new app, which can be downloaded for free, helps children manage their asthma. It notifies them when they are due to take their inhaler, alerts them of particularly high pollen or air pollution triggers and keeps their annual review document easily accessible.”

NHS Shropshire Telford and Wrekin are keen to use #AskAboutAsthma week to communicate with the public around some of the local innovations which are happening and to get people talking about asthma. In support of this, The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust are providing asthma themed activities for children in paediatrics and offering goodie bags during the week.

The vaccination buses, Betty and Bob, will also be out and about engaging children and their parents, helping to share information about asthma. The buses will be at The Anstice in Telford on 14 September 10am-2pm, and Shrewsbury Sports Village on 15 September 2pm-6pm. There will be representation from Breathe Easy, social prescribing leads and NHS staff who will be able to provide advice about the management of asthma and older children will be invited to become school mentors to support their peers to quit smoking.

The new app, from Tiny Medical Apps, can be downloaded here free of charge. Parents of children with asthma are encouraged to speak to their GP or practice nurse for more information.