Allergy patients failed by NHS
Rushda:
May 21st, 2007
Apparently doctors and other health professionals know very little about allergies. This is worrying considering over 6,000 people a year in England are admitted to hospital because of them each year, a quarter involving life-threatening anaphylaxis. Even when the patients are being diagnosed, many GPs are said to not really know where to send them as there are limited allergy clinics.
Personally, I can see where all this is coming from. I myself suffer serious allergies to common foods such as nuts and I still haven’t been diagnosed or told what to do even though I’ve had the allergies all my life! Once when I had a huge reaction I had to sit in A+E for well over an hour before I was even seen - which is very risky considering I could have had an anaphylactic attack. It is pleasing to know that Allergy UK is trying its best to raise awarenes, for example by setting up a website for health professionals which informs them about allergies and their common symptoms.