Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive about establishing a national allergy register in the UK.

The Government is committed to improving care for people with allergies, and ensuring that they receive high-quality care and support and access to the latest treatments.

NHS England does not collect national data on allergy prevalence or services, nor does it issue specific guidance. In conducting health needs assessments to inform their commissioning decisions, integrated care boards will have access to a wide range of data sources, including public health data, hospital statistics, primary care data, and social care metrics.

Data regarding all anaphylaxis-related deaths in England and Wales are documented by the Office for National Statistics, and the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology also holds a register to capture and learn from fatal cases of anaphylaxis, which has been operational since 1992, namely the UK Fatal Anaphylaxis Registry (UKFAR).

NHS England’s National Patient Safety Team is working with the UKFAR to develop a mechanism for sharing relevant patient safety information relating to anaphylaxis incidents, including the reporting of anaphylaxis in hospitals. The aim will be for the UKFAR to extract and share patient safety incidents reported to the national databases, the National Reporting and Learning System and the Learn from Patient Safety Events service, relating to severe allergic reactions. Work has been progressing on this, and a search strategy has been agreed upon.

For these reasons, the Government has had no discussions with the Scottish Government or Northern Ireland Executive about establishing a national allergy register in the United Kingdom. However, the Department co-chairs the Expert Advisory Group on Allergy, which brings together external allergy stakeholders, the Department and representatives from the devolved governments, to discuss the development of an external national allergy strategy that will be presented to the four governments of the UK to respond in early 2026. The group aims to support the growth and delivery of comprehensive specialist allergy services across the UK.