Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the (a) adequacy and (b) availability of allergy training for GPs.

We have made no assessment. General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high-quality care to all patients.

All UK registered doctors are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Good Medical Practice. In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice. This gives patients confidence doctors are up to date with their practice and promotes improved quality of care by driving improvements in clinical governance.

The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the relevant medical Royal College and has to meet the standards set by the GMC. The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed an allergy e-learning online resource to support their continuing professional development which aims to educate GPs about the various presentations of allergic disease.