The 21st September 2016 saw the launch of the latest version of our national asthma guideline, published jointly by the British Thoracic Society and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (BTS/SIGN, 2016).

The original BTS guideline was published in 1990, and SIGN’s own version dated back to 1996. In 1999 the two organisations recognised the need to develop a joint guideline, the result of which was the 2003 BTS/SIGN asthma guideline (SIGN/BTS, 2011).

This is the seventh version of this guideline, which has been produced in conjunction with a range of stakeholders including the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), Primary Care Respiratory Society (PCRS), Asthma UK and Health Improvement Scotland (HIS).