Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to improve access to adrenaline pens (a) for first aid organisations and (b) in schools.

Since October 2017, the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 have allowed all schools to buy adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) devices without a prescription, for emergency use. The Department has published non-statutory guidance to accompany this legislative change, with the guidance being available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/using-emergency-adrenaline-auto-injectors-in-schools

This guidance advises schools on the recognition and management of an allergic reaction and anaphylaxis, and outlines when and how an AAI should be administered for pupils. The guidance makes clear that any AAIs held by a school should be considered a spare device and not a replacement for a pupil’s own AAIs. It also states that children at risk of anaphylaxis should have their own prescribed AAIs at school for use in an emergency, and that they should always carry two devices.

In November 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Commission on Human Medicine’s Adrenaline Auto-injector Expert Working Group, with wide-ranging input from patient groups, leading allergy experts and healthcare professionals, published a report which outlined recommendations for the safe and effective use of AAIs, including quicker treatment, to help save lives. The MHRA has worked alongside the Department and wider health system to take forward these recommendations, some of which are already in place.

In June 2023, the MHRA, with the support of allergy awareness advocates, launched a safety campaign to raise awareness of anaphylaxis and provide advice on the use of AAIs.

The MHRA produced a toolkit of resources for health and social care professionals to support the safe and effective use of AAIs. Alongside this, the MHRA produced guidance, which states that prescribers should prescribe two AAIs to make sure patients always have the second dose and that those who are prescribed AAIs should always carry two of them.

A public consultation will be needed before a decision can be made on the wider availability of AAIs in public places, including with first aid organisations, together with legislative change.

The Community First Responder (CFR) programme enables volunteers trained by the ambulance service to attend certain types of emergency calls in the area where they live or work. CFRs have had first aid training but are not medically trained. CFRs are trained in the administration of a patient’s own AAI, which would ensure the correct medication and dose for that patient. In general, CFRs do not carry medication.