The table at the following link: http://www.scotpho.org.uk/health-wellbeing-and-disease/allergic-conditions/data/secondary-care-data shows the number of hospital discharges following admission with a diagnosis of any allergic condition. The figures include asthma within the total.

Primary care data relating to allergic conditions are available at

http://www.scotpho.org.uk/health-wellbeing-and-disease/allergic-conditions/data/primary-care-data which shows “Patients in Scotland consulting a GP or Practice Nurse at least once in the year: rates per 10,000 population for anaphylaxis from 2004-5 to 2012-13.”

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-27505 on 23 September 2015.

In addition, CYANS, the Children’s and Young People’s Allergy Network Scotland, is a National Managed Clinical Network that focuses on improving health service provision for children and young people with allergies in Scotland. CYANS was developed as a result of a review of allergy services in Scotland and was established in June 2011 with a remit to lead improvements in allergy care with a focus on severe allergy, to establish the evidence base that underpins sustainable coordinated development and delivery of allergy care.

To improve allergy care for children and young people CYANS has: created a website to provide easily accessible and reliable information for children, young people and their families as well as clinicians; developed and agreed clinical recommendations for the management of anaphylaxis and food allergy to promote consistency in allergy care throughout NHS Scotland; developed and successfully piloted an allergy training package for primary care clinicians, and developed an allergy database to support future service planning, quality improvement and allergy research.

The Scottish Government committed £32 million over three years to improve priority specialist children’s services, which treat some of our most vulnerable young people. The National Delivery Plan was a three year plan (2009-11) with 55 commitments to enable the improvement in priority specialist children’s services. Funding of £32 million was provided by the Scottish Government with recurring investment of £19.5 million from 2011-12 to ensure that services continue to improve.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Information on the total number of cases of anaphylactic shock is not available centrally. At this link http://www.scotpho.org.uk/health-wellbeing-and-disease/allergic-conditions/data/secondary-care-data there is a table which shows the number of hospital discharges following admission with a diagnosis of anaphylactic shock. These figures do not include cases which might have been treated in other settings such as accident and emergency departments or in primary care and which did not result in hospital admission.

The information requested on deaths is given in the following table. The National Records of Scotland (NRS) categorises the causes of each death registered in Scotland using the codes which are given in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10). A death may have a number of causes. Normally, deaths are counted on the basis of the underlying cause of death (that is the disease or injury which initiated the chain of morbid events leading directly to death, or the accident or act which produced the fatal injury). However, the implantable International Classification of Diseases rules do not allow anaphylactic shock (or various other consequences of certain other causes of death) to be counted as the underlying cause of death. Therefore, the table gives the numbers of deaths for which anaphylactic shock was recorded as being a contributory factor to the death.

Deaths for which anaphylactic shock was a contributory factor*, by year of registration:

2009 – 5

2010 – 6

2011 – 6

2012 – none

2013 – 4

2014 – 1

*Deaths for which the ICD-10 codes for the causes of the death included one or more of the following: T78.0, T78.2, T80.5 and T88.6.

As in other statistics published by NRS, deaths are counted on the basis of the calendar years in which they were registered, not on the basis of financial years.

Information on the number of people with allergic disorders has been published at http://www.scotpho.org.uk/health-wellbeing-and-disease/allergic-conditions/key-points. Information on the severity of the allergic conditions is not held centrally.

Overall, health in Scotland is improving, but health inequalities between our more affluent and more deprived communities still exist. We continue to address these long-standing problems by taking significant action to cut alcohol consumption, reduce smoking rates, encourage active living, healthy eating, and promote positive mental health.

Equally Well, the report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities, shifted the emphasis of our approach from dealing with the consequences of health inequalities to tackling the underlying causes such as poverty, employment, support for families and improving physical and social environments. This has been reflected in the latest Programme for Government published at the beginning of September 2015.

We have also made a fundamental shift to focus on preventative spending, while our Early Years Framework and Getting it Right for Every Child approach places a strong emphasis on giving children, particularly those who are most disadvantaged, the best possible start in life to make a real difference to their future health and life chances.

However, most of the main levers for tackling poverty lie with the UK Government – not least the welfare system. That it is why we have voiced our concern at Westminster’s drastic welfare cuts, which will have the biggest impact on our most vulnerable groups, including those children who are in most need of support.

The information is published on Information Services Division’s website at:

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2015-09-01/Non-Medical_Trend_J2015.xls.

Information Services Division does not record this as a separate specialty, but we are aware that there is medical consultant input into allergy management from a number of other medical specialties, including immunology, anaesthesia and others.

It is a matter for NHS boards to plan and deliver the services required to meet the assessed needs of their residential populations, taking into account international and other evidence and operating within the policies and frameworks set out by the Scottish Government as well as within their annual funding allocations.

The Scottish Government provides policies, frameworks and resources to NHS boards to allow them to deliver services designed to meet the needs of their local populations.

The Scottish Government provides policies, frameworks and resources to NHS boards to allow them to deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations. All healthcare professionals receive high quality training and education on conditions such as allergy, as part of their respective curriculums, which are developed and informed by professional organisations, and approved and overseen by the respective regulators of each profession, as follows:

a) General Practice Specialty Training is based on the Royal College of GP’s curriculum which is the educational framework that defines and sets the standards for independent general practice, and competency in meeting the standards is subject to regular assessment, including knowledge and skills in allergy. Training for the care of people with allergy problems is covered in the curriculum statements 3.15 and 3.19, and all components of the assessment system must be successfully completed before a Certificate of Completion of Training can be awarded.

b) All nursing and midwifery students have to complete a three year undergraduate pre-registration programme, including training on allergies, in order to practice as a nurse or midwife to the standards set by their regulator.

c) The dietetic workforce in Scotland continues to experience education within their pre-registration degree courses that provides underpinning knowledge relevant to allergy and specifically food allergy. The Food Allergy Specialist Group also holds study days supporting post-registration education for dieticians and others involved in food allergy.

d) Allergy is an important core condition that is taught both throughout the undergraduate pharmacy course, in the pre-registration year and then offered as continuous professional development (CPD) to pharmacists after registration. NHS Education for Scotland provides a range of CPD training materials for pharmacists in these areas, for example the ‘Responding to Minor Ailments Distance Learning Pack’ has been distributed to all community pharmacies in Scotland, and a national webinar was run on the ‘Drug Therapy for Allergy’ which is now available as a teaching webcast.