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No Allergy Tsar in sight

26/08/2021 //  by Michelle Berridale Johnson//  9 Comments

Those of you who read my post earlier in the month and signed Tanya Ednan-Laperouse’s petition will no doubt also have received a government response this morning. In it they outline the position as they see it and what they are doing to help:

  • They note that there has been a 38% rise in anaphylactic episodes in the last ten years, although these include not just anaphylactic reactions to food but to serums, drugs and idiopathic episodes where the cause is unknown. They also do point out that this number could include several admissions if a patient was peculiarly sensitive.
  • They highlight the introduction of Natasha’s law in October which will certainly improve the situation as far as foods pre-packed for direct sale is concerned. Foods sold in outlets such a Pret a Manger will have to carry full ingredient labelling which will hopefully avoid tragedies such as Tanya’s own daughter Natasha’s death.
  • They also point out that the MHRA is developing a communications campaign to raise awareness and understanding of allergy among patients, carers and healthcare professionals. Worthy but, with a few notable exceptions, most government health campaigns have only limited impact.
  • They note that over the last 5 years they have funded two research projects into allergy (comparing treatments for cow’s milk allergy in babies and on peanut desenstisitation) to the tune of just over £2 million – a figure that is all but laughable when compared with the billions that has been poured into every aspect of COVID research. Moreover, this research is into management protocols and treatment. What we really need is core research into why the incidence of allergy has escalated so dramatically over the last 25 years.
  • And finally they pass off the issue of allergy training as being outside their remit but the responsibility of the royal colleges – Royal College of Physicians and the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board.  More details on recruitment on the NHS Physician ST3 Recruitment pages.

Lack of career pathways

What the government response totally fails to address is the shocking dearth of both specialist and primary allergy care within the wider NHS.

Consultants

Although there has been an increase in the numbers of consultant allergists, there are still only six specialist allergy centres around the country. Moreover the shortage of allergy posts available within the NHS is a significant disincentive to ambitious trainee doctors looking for a challenging area in which to specialise.  (An interesting subsection, Job Market and Vacancies, on the NHS Allergy site notes that there is a shortage of allergy posts and that ‘less than whole-time working is common in this speciality’.) So it is not that the training is unavailable. It is that, once trained, a budding allergist may have diffculty in finding a post in which he/she can concentrate on his or her chosen  speciality. As a result a patient with what could be a potentially fatal allergy could wait six months or longer to get an appointment.

Primary care training

Meanwhile, awareness of allergy within primary care remains patchy and often extremely poor. While prescriptions for adrenaline injectors are now readily handed out, all too often they come with no instructions, training, back up or follow up. The death of Shante Turay, highlighted in my earlier post, is all too glaring an example of how primary care can and does fail allergy sufferers.

A medical curriculum is already extremely tightly packed. But given the increase in the incidence of allergy, would it not seem reasonable to include basic training in managing allergy in the standard curriculum if you wanted to go into general practice rather than leaving it as an optional speciality? In exactly the same way as it would seem sensible to include a few core allergen control principles in basic hygeine training courses for anyone working in the food service industry.

However, as the government would point out, this would be down to the royal colleges and not to them.

Category: Allergies, Conventional Medicine, Peanut allergyTag: Allergy training, Appoint an Allergy Tsar, Government petition to appoint an allergy tsar, Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board, Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, Natasha's law, Natasha's Law on prepacked food, NHS Physician ST3 Recruitment pages., Shante Turay, Tanya Ednan-Laperouse

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. jacquie

    27/08/2021 at 14:23

    my GP quite recently said to me the NHS does not cater for people like you, dosn’t care either. I am overwhelmed with mould allergy, always high in August and when I went to see the immunologist in Southampton last year, he threw my test results up in the air and said I don’t know anything about mould allergy. So much for NHS consultants what do they do. I was referred by my skin specialist and will never waste time seeing an NHS immunologist again, it was humiliating Peanut and milk allergies are important, but there are so many other serious allergies which are never mentioned.

  2. Michelle Berridale Johnson

    27/08/2021 at 14:29

    Oh dear, Jacquie – I wish that your experience was a one off but I fear it is all too common.

    We so desperately need a two pronged appraoch – more training and more opportunity within the health service for genuine allergy specialists who look at the whole specturm of allergy, not just peanuts and milk – and more research (well, even some research) into what is causing the escalation in these conditions.

  3. Jennifer Howells

    27/08/2021 at 14:35

    Perhaps send the petition to the royal colleges?

  4. Michelle Berridale Johnson

    27/08/2021 at 14:39

    As far as training in primary care is concerned you mean, Jennifer? Well, I guess there would be no harm in trying. I am sure that it would have no immediate effect but a ball has to start rolling somewhere. Maybe we should consider something of the kind.

  5. Micki

    27/08/2021 at 16:47

    Poor you Jacquie. I recently had a very similar experience. I wanted a diagnosis. Bit my lip REALLY HARD to not show I knew a lot about the subject – to pander to consultants’ egos as per – but almost exploded when he said food intolerance like mine doesn’t exist and it was ‘all in my mind because I am obsessed with food as a nutritionist’. I said I am living proof. Here I am, sitting in front of you! He will never know how close he came to getting a punch on the nose! Ergo, forced to find a consultant myself and go privately. It shouldn’t have to be like this.

  6. Tom Ogren

    27/08/2021 at 19:03

    An allergy tsar? What a great idea!

  7. Rettie

    28/08/2021 at 09:42

    I made an appt to see one of my Drs a few years ago, as I was feeling very unwell, I hardly had the energy to get to the surgery. I made the mistake of wearing a colourful coat! I had to wait 3 weeks!! for this appt so in the meantime I had an allergy test which showed I had a severe yeast allergy. I mentioned this to the Dr. He said, I’m not fooled by the bright clothes you are wearing, you are suffering with depression and wanted to put me on antidepressants, he actually said we don’t believe in allergies!!! Needless to say, I certainly didn’t take his advice, but went on a 2 week Detox which wasn’t easy, but I felt so much better afterwards.

  8. Michelle Berridale Johnson

    28/08/2021 at 09:45

    Arrgh….. I do wish your experience was the exception Rettie – but sadly not.

  9. Rettie

    28/08/2021 at 10:54

    I would just like to add. When my son was 18 he was feeling very unwell and made an appt to see the wonderful Medical Herbalist we used. He walked into her room, she took one look at him, before he had even sat down or spoken and said I know what is wrong with you, you have a severe yeast allergy. Within 2 weeks he was feeling so much better. This was about 30yrs ago, but I will never understand why allergies are too much trouble for the Drs even now.

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