App being launched to help young people with managing asthma
A new app is being launched to help children and young people manage their asthma.
The launch comes as NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are supporting the national #AskAboutAsthma week beginning on Monday.
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 health bosses said they are keen to use the awareness week to communicate with the public around some of the local innovations.
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 September 14, 10am to 2pm, and Shrewsbury Sports Village on September 15, from 2pm to 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 free of charge at
Parents of children with asthma are encouraged to speak to their GP or practice nurse for more information.
