NHS Allergy services: what is the problem?

The Facts

• About 1 in 3 of the population or 20 million people suffer from allergic disease
• About 7 million people have allergy of sufficient severity or complexity to require referral to a specialist allergist
• Children and young adults are particularly affected

The Problem

• Most GPs, and hospital doctors have little or no training in allergy
• There are only 30 consultants in allergy (specialists) for the whole of the UK
• Many patients when referred to a hospital allergy service see a doctor trained in another speciality

What Action is Needed?

• More specialists in allergy (for adults and children) are urgently needed. The specialty of allergy needs to grow.
• The awareness and understanding of allergy in primary care needs to improve so that more patients can be dealt with in primary care