Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that asthma sufferers are referred for specialist treatment.

It is expected that National Health Service patients with severe asthma are referred to their specialist asthma service where they will receive appropriate investigation and treatment. All specialised providers are required to develop a networked model of care as the vehicle for delivering an optimal pathway and maximising patient outcomes and experience. All specialised services report against national quality metrics for severe asthma services on an annual basis. Commissioner action is initiated with individual hospitals to address significant issues.

The NHS England Specialised Commissioning team is running a severe asthma collaborative project to improve patient experience, outcomes and safety through improved access to specialist multidisciplinary teams for assessment and review.