‘Red tape risk’ to asthma children

Asthma UK said schools are prevented from keeping a spare blue reliever inhaler on their premises because they are prescription-only medicines. But this puts children’s lives at risk when they have forgotten to bring their own inhaler to school or have run out, it said.

The charity is calling for a change in the rules to allow schools to keep inhalers in their first aid kits.

Some 1.1 million children in the UK have asthma and just over 30,000 are admitted to hospital with the condition every year.

A survey of more than 200 youngsters for Asthma UK found almost two-thirds have had an asthma attack at school. One in five children found it “quite difficult” or “very difficult” to access their inhaler at school.