This section is intended for clinicians caring for children with asthma in a hospital or tertiary care setting. It outlines examples of best practice in the assessment, treatment and ongoing management of children and young people with asthma in an acute setting.


Innovative whole pathways of care, including specialist outreach, and moving care closer to home to deliver all required services, are key to integrating care. A number of example pathways from across the country are available in our resources and tools section.

Example pathways

Referral Pathway- The attached referral pathway, designed by the Severe Asthma Network subgroup of the London Asthma Leadership and Innovation Group, shows the route to a specialist (tertiary) severe asthma service for children aged 5 – 16 years with problematic asthma. Referrals can be made from primary or secondary care.

Harringey Asthma Pathway – Recommended for use across London. It has links to the London Asthma standard. We thank the team at Harringey London and the North London Partners in health and care for developing this resource

National Paediatric Asthma Collaborative asthma pathway

Hillingdon hospital example pathway

New asthma clinical pathway – Hounslow

Pathway diagrams – Hounslow

Children and young people asthma pathway – South east London

Treatment and management guidelines are available in the other sections of this toolkit.