Tower Road Academy in Boston is the first school to be awarded the Asthma Friendly School accreditation in Lincolnshire. This is a recognition for their work in helping children with asthma stay well.
The initiative, led by NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board, working closely with the wider Lincolnshire NHS, Lincolnshire County Council and the Children and Young People’s Respiratory Nurse at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, encourages all schools to welcome children with asthma and put simple strategies in place to ensure they can fully participate in school life.
Asthma is the most common long-term medical condition in children in the UK. The UK has one of the highest prevalence, emergency admission and death rates for childhood asthma in Europe*. Children with asthma are more likely to take time out of school then their peers without asthma, particularly if they suffer from persistent or severe asthma symptoms.
To achieve the Asthma Friendly accredited status, schools must meet the following key objectives:
- Adopt an asthma policy
- Have a named asthma lead/champion amongst its staff
- Maintain an up-to-date asthma register of the children in its care
- Ensure staff complete baseline asthma training and annual updates
- Ensure staff can recognise when a child is having an asthma attack and know what to do if this happens
- Ensure children always have easy access to their reliever/rescue inhaler
- Provide a school emergency inhaler and spacer device within the allowable legislation or ensure every child with asthma has a spare inhaler for emergency use stored safely on site.
Mr McCullough, Head Teacher at Tower Road Academy said:
“We are proud and delighted that the care we give to those children with asthma has been recognised by the NHS. Being an accredited Asthma Friendly School is important to us: it gives us the confidence that the processes we have in place and the training we undertake places us in the strongest position possible to look after the young people in our school.
“I would encourage every school to gain the accreditation. The process is supportive and is focused on providing the best care for children”.
Vanessa Wort, Associate Chief Nurse at NHS Lincolnshire ICB and Co-chair of the Children and Young People Integrated Transformation Board said:
“Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease that affects around 1 in 11 children and young people in the UK, while around 10 000 children and young people in Lincolnshire have an asthma diagnosis, while a further 3 000 have suspected asthma*.
“The benefits of becoming an Asthma Friendly School allows staff to improve asthma awareness and management in the school as well as improving support to students with asthma encouraging an inclusive environment.
“Becoming an Asthma Friendly School allows the staff to support pupils with asthma specifically, provide better support and lessen the impact on the education of these children and young people. If your child is missing school because of asthma you should contact your GP practice and also ensure that an annual asthma review is undertaken.”
For more information about becoming an asthma-friendly school, visit Asthma Friendly Schools – Lincolnshire ICB.