Queen’s Speech 2022: Addressing the Needs of the Allergic Community

The Queen’s Speech, formally referred to as the State Opening of Parliament is scheduled to take place on 10 May 2022. The State Opening is the main ceremonial event in the parliamentary calendar, and formally marks the beginning of a new parliamentary session. During the event, the Queen reads a speech from the Throne in the House of Lords chamber prepared by the government. The speech sets out the government agenda for new Parliamentary session.

Allergy UK is calling upon the government to address the needs of the allergic community as part of the Queen’s 2022 speech. Allergy has been referred to has a ‘global epidemic’ by the World Health Organisation, and the UK has some of the highest rates of allergy in the western world. There has been a shocking 615% increase in hospital admissions related to anaphylaxis in the last 20 years and allergy costs the UK NHS an estimated £1 billion per year. From the largest survey ever conducted on allergy-by-Allergy UK, 61% of people want the government to do more for people with allergies and 76% feel their allergies should be taken more seriously.

For these reasons, Allergy UK is calling upon the government to include an Allergy Bill in the Queen’s 2022 Speech. As part of the Bill, Allergy UK would like the government to act upon our key recommendations for allergy. These are:

1. A National Strategy for Allergy across all four UK nations to address the current gaps in healthcare provision for those affected by allergies.
2. The establishment of a National Clinical Lead/Director for Allergy within the NHS.
3. An Integrated Model for Allergy in Primary Care through increased education among primary care professionals including GPs.

We think it’s time the UK and the government should take allergy seriously.