NHS allergy services 'totally inadequate'

Allergy services in the NHS are "totally inadequate" and cannot cope with the rising amount and increasing severity of allergy in the UK, according to a new report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).

In the study ‘Allergy: The Unmet Need – a blueprint for better patient care’, the RCP says that an acute shortage of allergy consultants and specialist centres has meant that patients face major difficulties in obtaining accurate diagnoses, advice and treatment.

The numbers of allergy sufferers in the UK has risen in recent years and one-in-three of the population is expected to develop allergy at some time in their lives.

The provision of NHS allergy services has not kept pace with the spread of allergies, claims the FCP. Currently, there are six major centres staffed by consultant allergists offer a full-time service with expertise in all types of allergic problems, and a further nine centres staffed by allergists offer a part-time service. The remaining 86 allergy clinics in Britain are run part-time by consultants in other medical specialties.

The main recommendations of the report are that:

• allergy centres should be set up in each NHS region
• more consultant allergists must be appointed
• more training posts must be created and fully funded
• and allergy services should be led by GP practices, with expertise available from hospitals for more severe and complex problems

Professor Stephen Holgate, chair of the working party which produced the report, said: “The UK is way behind in its capacity to provide adequate allergy services when compared to most countries in Europe, the US and Australasia”

RCP President Professor Carol Black, said: “The increased incidence of allergic disease, including some of the most harmful forms, is just one example of a change in the pattern of illness and disease that we could not have foreseen."

(GMcG)