RCP: Government still failing to address allergy: Experts ask minister to take action

Thursday, 31 January 2008 12:00 AM

UK allergy experts are asking the Secretary of State for Health to take decisive action to improve care for people with allergy. In a letter printed in today's Times newspaper, the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology make the following points:

* The House of Lords Science & Technology Committee published a
Report on Allergy in September 2007. However 4 months later the government and DH have not taken effective action to improve allergy services.

* Two earlier reports on allergy also called for improvements to
patient care.

* The Lord's Report identifies the wide gap between provision of
services and patient need. In the UK there are only a small number of specialists in allergy, and GPs have little or no training in allergy.
Yet millions are affected by allergy, which is becoming more severe or complex. The Report recommends: funding training posts in allergy to produce more specialists; creating an allergy centre in each health region; and educating family doctors in allergy.

* Inadequate allergy services are leading to unnecessary cost to
the NHS, in illness that could be avoided by expert allergy diagnosis and management. For example hospital admissions for anaphylaxis have risen 7-fold over 10 years, yet further episodes can be prevented.

* The Lords proposals are low cost compared to the burden to
patients and cost to the NHS of unmanaged allergy.

* Allergy is not a priority of the Department of Heath. We ask the
Minister to take decisive action that will improve patient care.

Dr Pam Ewan, (Consultant Allergist, Addenbrooke's Hospital) said: It is a national disgrace that despite 3 reports from expert bodies, professional and patient organisations and the House of Lords, there is still no comprehensive concerted action on improving services for patients with allergy.

Notes to Editors: The core aim of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI) is to improve the management of allergic and related diseases in the United Kingdom.

Contacts:
Prof Stephen Durham Royal Brompton Hospital 0207 404 0279 or 07814
876577
Dr Pamela Ewan Addenbrooke's Hospital 01223 217777 or 07979 536099 .

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