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Asthma’s postcode lottery: ‘We all have a right to breathe’

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Asthma attack: conditions in Croydon are worse than anywhere else in London for asthmatics

Croydon is the worst place in London to have asthma, analysis from charity Asthma UK has shown.

Yet Bromley, the borough next door to Croydon, is rated as the best place in the capital for asthmatics.

The charity’s findings are a shocking indictment of poverty, poor living conditions and wretchedly polluted air quality in Croydon, where people with asthma are more likely to be hospitalised or die from an asthma attack than anywhere else in London.

Asthma UK’s 2018 report On The Edge: How inequality affects people with asthma, using official government data from the Office of National Statistics, found that people in the poorest areas in England are more likely to be exposed to worse air pollution and higher smoking rates, have challenges accessing care, a lower awareness of asthma management and have poor housing conditions.

Inside Croydon reported last week how the already long-suffering residents in council blocks on Regina Road in South Norwood have well-founded concerns about the health of their children and themselves because of the damp and mould in their homes, and soaring energy bills to pay because of structural failings of the buildings.

Croydon is in the most deprived half of CCGs in England and has the highest hospital admission rate for asthma in the capital, with 720 people hospitalised for the condition in the years before the report was published. It also had the third-highest number of asthma deaths in the capital.

Yet people with asthma in neighbouring Bromley are the least likely to need to go to hospital for their asthma in London, and the number of asthma deaths in nine years is half that of Croydon – 64 compared to 34 deaths.

Postcode lottery: the disparity between neighbouring boroughs Croydon and Bromley, as shown in Asthma UK’s report, based on ONS data

Compared to the rest of England, London has the worst rates of people receiving basic asthma care with 72 per cent of people with asthma in the capital not receiving the care they need. Everyone with asthma is entitled to basic asthma care which includes having a written asthma action plan, having their inhaler technique checked and an annual asthma review with a GP or asthma nurse.

Croydon resident Karen Briscoe told Asthma UK that air pollution, poor housing and a lack of access to basic asthma care played a part in her being rushed to hospital with asthma attacks. She has also spent several hours in her GP surgery room waiting for an emergency appointment and struggling to breathe.

“Where I live has definitely made my asthma worse. My kitchen has damp in it and I overlook a main road. The damp and the toxic air from the road trigger my asthma.

Asthma UK’s Dr Samantha Walker: ‘truly shocking’

“I’ve been in and out of hospital with my asthma but I haven’t had the care I needed. My GP surgery is always so busy that I can wait up to three weeks for appointment and I’ve never had a yearly asthma review even though I know I should get one.

“It’s very frightening when I’m struggling to breathe and there are times where I think it might get so bad I might die. When you have asthma you should be able to get the care you need and be in an environment that won’t make you ill, no matter where you live.”

Dr Samantha Walker, the director of research and policy at Asthma UK, said, “It is truly shocking that people in deprived areas are not only struggling to make ends meet but if they have asthma they are more likely to end up in hospital or die from an asthma attack.

“We should all have an equal right to breathe. Everyone with asthma should be entitled to live in an area free of dirty air, in decent housing that doesn’t affect their health and get the basic asthma care from healthcare professionals that they are entitled to.

Peter Underwood: says Croydon is in a public health crisis

“Tackling health inequalities is meant to be a priority for healthcare commissioners, including NHS England, and our report highlights the fact that there is still a long way to go before all people with asthma are enabled to manage their condition effectively.”

Croydon Green Party’s Peter Underwood, a long-term campaigner for better air quality in the borough, told Inside Croydon, “We know that thousands of people die early every year from air pollution.

“And it is the people who already face disadvantages and discrimination who suffer worst.

“This is a public health crisis and demands urgent action.

“Croydon is going in the wrong direction with more traffic on our roads and increased pollution from the waste incinerator at Beddington Lane. We have to turn this around.”

Read more: Regina Road residents shiver as they face £2,000 heating bills
Read more: Air pollution in central Croydon reaches ‘dangerous’ levels
Read more: Croydon shamed over ‘dangerous squalor’ in council flats

 


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