Scots more allergic than English

Published on Friday 9 October 2009 22:09

ALLERGIC diseases such as eczema, asthma and hay fever are costing the NHS in Scotland a staggering £130 million a year.

One in three of the Scottish population is affected by allergies at some point in their lives, compared with one in four in England, according to a major study published in the latest issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

And one of the Scottish-based experts involved in the groundbreaking research claimed last night that the clinical provision in Scotland for the treatment of a range of allergies was "lamentable".

Aziz Sheikh, a professor of primary care research at Edinburgh University, said: "We currently do not have nearly enough expertise in general practice or specialist centres where patients with severe and complex allergic disease can be assessed and managed.

"There is a very poor availability of allergy services, particularly for those who are at the severe or complex end of the spectrum. And we seem to be falling increasingly behind the investments and developments taking place south of the Border. Clinical provision in Scotland is overall lamentable."

Professor Sheikh, who is head of the allergy and respiratory research group at the university, said the study had found that allergic disorders accounted for more than four per cent of all GP consultations and 1.5 per cent of hospital admissions in Scotland.

Allergic disease is costing NHS Scotland more than 130 million a year with the cost of GP consultations for asthma alone standing at 786,000.

Prof Sheikh also called for Scotland to take a lead in allergy research to help tackle the growing problem within the population.

He said: "There is a need for ongoing monitoring of allergy disease trends in Scotland and a pressing need to better understand why so many people are now affected and what can be done to reverse this trend."

Prof Sheikh explained that the reasons for the prevalence of allergic disorders in Scotland were unclear but that Scotland's poor diet could be a contributory factor.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government takes the issue of allergies very seriously. Specialist hospital-based services are available for people who experience near-fatal allergic reactions and a review of services in Scotland for those who experience less severe degrees of allergic reaction has also recently been carried out.

"This review recommends the establishment of a national network for paediatric allergies, and regional networks for adult allergies."