15 years on from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee report on Allergy

On 24 July 2007, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee published a report on the state of the UK’s allergy services. The report highlighted a major gap in the provision provided for allergic disease and made a series of key recommendations to the Government. Some of these recommendations included:

  • The creation of allergy centres across the county, that could diagnose, treat, and provide support to practitioners.
  • Greater training for GPs on allergy.
  • Research on the environmental factors to allergy
  • Better management of allergies in food outlets, schools, and the workplace

15 years on, and very little progress has been made on these key recommendations. Research conducted by Allergy UK has found 41 million in the UK have one or more allergic conditions. By 2025, asthma will represent the most prevalent chronic childhood disease and result in one of the highest causes of health care costs.

Allergy UK is demanding action now to tackle the allergy epidemic which impacts so many people in the UK. We are calling upon the Government to immediately:

  • Implement a National Allergy Strategy
  • Appoint a National Clinical Lead/Director for Allergy
  • The establishment of an Integrated Model for Allergy in Primary Care.

Allergy UK’s Patient Charter is a ground-breaking document that calls upon policy makers to endorse a gold standard of rights for people living with allergic disease. You can view the Patient Charter at www.allergyuk.org.