Rachel Booker outlines the detection and treatment options for this underdiagnosed disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) kills 30,000 people every year in the UK. It is often not diagnosed in its early stages, when most can potentially be done to improve outcomes. Although National Service Frameworks (NSFs) have been introduced to improve care for patients with a variety of conditions, there is no NSF for chronic respiratory disease, and there are no plans to introduce one, even though COPD utilises large amounts of health service resources and is a major cause of ‘winter bed pressure’. Following publication of national guidelines in 1997 (BTS 1997a) there have been advances in primary care management, but there remains room for improvement.