NHS: Patients with Allergies

Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Grand Committee

[Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Burt, and I thank my noble friend Lady Ramsey of Wall Heath for securing this important debate. I declare an interest as a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Allergy.

Allergy can be a life sentence. There is an epidemic which is going unnoticed. An estimated one-third of the UK population live with allergies, but the number of people living with serious food allergies more than doubled between 2008 and 2018, with the largest increase seen in young children. Symptoms vary, but in the most serious cases reactions can be life-threatening and, in heartbreaking incidents, lead to death.

I commend the work of allergy charities which campaign to raise awareness and offer advice to those caring for and those living with this life-threatening condition. I support Anaphylaxis UK and champion Allergy UK in its call for an allergy nurse and dietician at the primary care level within every integrated care system, as the noble Baroness, Lady Burt, has already mentioned.

The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, which was set up by her parents following her tragic death, has campaigned for better food labelling and now plans to launch a new education programme which will provide free resources to nurseries and primary schools so that children with allergies are safe and can participate fully in the classroom. I congratulate the Times on choosing the foundation as part of its Christmas charity appeal.

There is growing concern about the safety of children with allergies in school, and the recent report sponsored by the Benedict Blythe Foundation, mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Burt, reveals that many schools still do not have an allergy policy in place, despite a legal requirement to do so. Almost half of schools do not hold their own life-saving medication, and too many staff remain untrained to administer them.

It cannot be left to charities alone to deal with the allergy crisis; the Government have a key role to play, and I want to turn to the recommendations in the report Meeting the Challenges of the National Allergy Crisis produced by our APPG and the National Allergy Strategy Group. These include an allergy tsar, or lead, who can ensure that the national allergy strategy is implemented across government. It has followed several other key reports in the last 20 years, and all have consistently highlighted how allergy remains poorly managed across the NHS due to a lack of training and expertise.

There is a need for significant improvement in specialist services, as well as improved knowledge and awareness in primary care. With 5 million people living with severe conditions requiring specialist care, hospital admissions due to allergies are rising, and prevalence rates for allergy in the UK are among the highest in the world, especially among the young, yet specialist services delivered by paediatric allergists are available to only a minority of those with serious disease. There is a postcode lottery of care. The complexity and severity of allergy is placing a huge strain on the NHS, made worse by the small number of consultants in adult and paediatric allergy and the lack of training for GPs, who remain the front-line service for children and adults suffering reactions. Can the Minister give an update on whether this is being addressed in the NHS workforce plan?

Our report proposed a minimum of 40 additional training posts for allergy, as well as a minimum of four consultant adult allergists and two paediatric allergists in every major teaching hospital and large conurbation. It also called for all GPs and healthcare professionals in primary care to have knowledge of allergic disease, both in initial training and ongoing professional appraisal. Each GP practice should have a health visitor and/or a practice nurse trained in allergy support. As most patients are still managed in primary care, this is where resources should be placed. Local health commissioners should understand the allergy needs of their population and ensure access to adult and paediatric consultants.

I was shocked to read in the Lancet this September that people from lower-income areas were least likely to be prescribed adrenaline autoinjectors. As a mother of an anaphylactic son, I know how vital it is to carry these life-saving devices. I welcome the Government’s commitment to allow the Expert Advisory Group for Allergy, established in 2023, to continue to identify priority areas for improving the quality of life of people with allergies. I look forward to the outcome of the National Allergy Strategy Group’s consultation to produce a much-needed 10-year strategy to address the issue of allergy in the UK.

In conclusion, I very much hope that my noble friend the Minister can give a positive reply to the many calls for the Government to appoint a national allergy lead this year.