Natasha Allergy Research Foundation calls for NHS allergy tsar

The parents of children who have died after suffering allergic reactions to food are petitioning the government to appoint an NHS allergy tsar.

The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, founded by Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, has joined forces with Emma Turay to call on health secretary Wes Streeting to appoint a national champion for people living with allergies.

The Ednan-Laperouses’ 15-year-old daughter Natasha died in 2016 after she had a reaction to sesame in a Pret A Manger baguette, with the coroner at an inquest into her death describing Pret’s allergen labelling as “inadequate”.

Turay’s 18-year old daughter Shante Turay-Thomas died in 2018 following an allergic reaction to a hazelnut, when a series of NHS failures meant that an ambulance took more than 40 minutes to arrive at her home in Wood Green, north London.

The bereaved parents now want the government to appoint an allergy tsar as part of NHS reforms to ensure allergy care is not left behind.

They described allergy as being a “Cinderella service” in the NHS, stating: “Currently, no single person has overall responsibility for allergy across government or the NHS. As a result, care is often patchy, inconsistent and people’s access to clinics, timely diagnosis and healthcare support is often a postcode lottery.”

The charity believes appointing an allergy tsar would lead a rapid review of NHS allergy services and data, identify gaps in care and suggest improvements to better protect people living with allergies.

The Ednan-Laperouses and Turan said: “As the NHS undergoes major reorganisation, we cannot miss this key opportunity to ensure allergy is properly considered. Without greater priority given to allergies, these problems will continue and more lives may be lost.”

They called for signatories to their petition, adding: “We cannot change what happened to our daughters, but with your support we can help protect future generations from preventable hospitalisations and tragedies.”

The campaign calls for an allergy tsar to:

• Act as a public champion to tackle the allergy epidemic now.
• Advocate for an increase to the number of specialist allergy clinics, as part of both children and adult services – one in every part of the country.
• Work with the government to achieve mandatory reporting of all anaphylaxis events presenting to hospital, to support comprehensive investigation of fatal and near-fatal anaphylaxis events.
• Work with stakeholders to better align primary care and hospital allergy services so that patients have a coherent NHS care pathway.
• Advocate for more specialist allergy doctors and consultants, and mandatory training in allergies for all GPs.

The Ednan-Laperouses previously called for an allergy tsar in 2024, following the inquest into the death of 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs. She had a severe dairy allergy and died a few hours after sipping a Costa Coffee drink made with milk. However, they said they had previously been told ministers were too “busy” to meet with them.

Following Natasha’s death, her parents campaigned for the introduction of Natasha’s Law, which came into force in 2021. This requires food outlets that package products onsite to provide a full list of ingredients on the label, with 14 allergens, including nuts and milk, highlighted.

In 2022, the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation partnered with caterers Caterlink, BaxterStorey and Holyroyd Howe to help fund a £2.8m, three-year oral immunotherapy trial for children and young people with milk and peanut allergies.