§ Lord Onslow of Wokingasked Her Majesty's Government:
Which are the NHS allergy clinics in the United Kingdom, indicating in each case the time a patient suffering from a potentially life-threatening allergy is likely to have to wait before seeing a consultant. [HL2792]
§ Baroness HaymanThe British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI) maintains and publishes a list of allergy clinics in the National Health Service that are run by its members. The list for 1998–99 includes 87 such clinics in the United Kingdom. The British Allergy Foundation also holds details of a further 30 clinics in the United Kingdom that are run by non-members of the BSACI. The Department of Health does not have information on the time taken to see a consultant at each clinic.
19WA
§ Lord Onslow of Wokingasked Her Majesty's Government:
What recent instructions have been given to NHS trusts about the priority that should be given to spending on allergy services. [HL2793]
§ Baroness HaymanWe have not issued any instructions to National Health Service trusts about the priority to be given to spending on allergy services. We do recognise that at present service provision is patchy and we are concerned about the present level of services available for the treatment of allergies in the NHS. Officials recently met representatives of the relevant professional and patient representative bodies to discuss the future of allergy services; possible action will be discussed at a follow-up meeting to be arranged. It is however the responsibility of individual health authorities to assess the health care needs of their residents and to secure access to a range of services which aim to meet those needs. Each health authority therefore decides how great is the need for local allergy services, based on local priorities and resources.
§ Lord Onslow of Wokingasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their latest estimate of the annual rate of increase of allergic diseases per cent. of the population of the United Kingdom. [HL2794]
§ Baroness HaymanWe have made no such estimate. Professor John Warner, Professor of Child Health at the University of Southampton, has estimated that allergic diseases are increasing at a rate of around 1 per cent. of the population per year.