Skip Navigation


Occupational Medicine Advance Access originally published online on August 29, 2007
Occupational Medicine 2008 58(1):71-73; doi:10.1093/occmed/kqm090
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
58/1/71    most recent
kqm090v2
kqm090v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Barber, C. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Barber, C. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

C. M. Barber, Health and Safety Laboratory. © Crown Copyright 2007. Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

Short Reports

Facilities for investigating occupational asthma in UK non-specialist respiratory departments

Christopher M. Barber1, Steven Naylor1, Lisa Bradshaw1, Mandy Francis1, Joanne Harris-Roberts1, Roger Rawbone2, Andrew Curran1, David Fishwick1 on behalf of the British Thoracic Society Research Committee

1 Centre for Workplace Health, Health and Safety Executive, Buxton, UK
2 Health & Safety Executive, Bootle, UK

Background The facilities which should be available to physicians offering specialist occupational asthma services have recently been agreed upon by a UK panel of experts.

Aims This study aimed to investigate whether these facilities are available in UK non-specialist secondary care respiratory departments and to document tertiary care referral patterns.

Methods A random sample of 100 UK respiratory units was selected, and the lead consultant invited to participate. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to document information on departmental facilities available for investigating cases of occupational asthma and utilization of tertiary referral centres.

Results In total, 66% of consultants interviewed had seen a case of occupational asthma in the previous month, and 76% reported having ever referred a patient with suspected occupational asthma to a specialist centre for further investigation (referral distance range 1–111 miles). All the departments were able to perform the investigations previously deemed an absolute necessity in all patients. The availability of in-house facilities that were deemed as must be available varied between 3–100%.

Conclusions The results of this study demonstrate that while the majority of basic facilities are widely available, many respiratory departments do not have direct access to investigations routinely required to investigate occupational asthma. Access to specialist occupational respiratory centres varies within the UK, and in some parts of the country involves long travelling distances for patients.

Correspondence to: Christopher M. Barber, Centre for Workplace Health, Health and Safety Laboratory, Harpur Hill, Buxton SK 17 9JN, UK. Tel: 01298218169; e-mail: chris.barber{at}hsl.gov.uk


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.