Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve NHS support for children and families with severe food allergies.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on schools to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. Schools should ensure they are aware of any pupils with medical conditions, and have policies and processes in place to ensure these can be well managed. This includes allergies. The policy should also set out how staff will be supported in carrying out their role to support pupils, including how training needs are assessed and how training is commissioned and provided. Any member of school staff providing support to a pupil with medical needs should have received suitable training.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) encourages food businesses to complete the FSA’s allergen e-learning course and recommends that it is retaken annually to refresh knowledge and ensure that businesses are up to date on any changes which may have occurred. The FSA online training is free and offers practical advice to anyone wanting to learn more about food allergy.

NHS England has also produced the Healthy School Child e-learning programme, which available at the following link:

https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/healthy-school-child/

This programme is designed for healthcare professionals, including school nurses, working with children aged five to 12 years old. Module 5 of the e-learning programme includes sessions on asthma, eczema, and other allergies.