Care for allergy patients ‘inadequate’, report warns

There is a “lack” of NHS services available to people with allergies, a group of MPs has said.

Despite increasing rates of hospital admissions for severe allergic reactions – also known as anaphylaxis – allergy services “have largely been ignored”, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Allergy said.

The group warned allergies are “poorly managed” across the health service due to a “lack of training” and only a small number of allergy experts.

“This mismatch has continued despite millions of patients having significant allergic disease,” it said.

In its latest report, which is to be delivered to Government on Wednesday, MPs said there are 20 million people in the UK who are living with allergic disease, including five million whose illness is severe enough to need specialist care.

“Yet our allergy services remain inadequate, often hard to access and are failing those who need them the most,” the report adds.

The group made a series of recommendations including: devising a “national allergy plan” to address problems; expanding the specialist workforce and ensuring all GPs get training in how to deal with allergies.

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Source: ITV News, 27 October 2021