The Anaphylaxis Campaign welcomes news that the Royal College of Physicians will host the first UK accreditation scheme for adult allergy services

10/11/2015

The Anaphylaxis Campaign welcomes news that the Royal College of Physicians will host the first UK accreditation scheme for adult allergy services

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Accreditation Unit will host the first clinical service accreditation scheme for improving quality in allergy services (IQAS) this autumn. It will provide adult allergy services with a robust quality assurance process and a supportive quality improvement pathway, as recommended in the RCP’s 2010 report, Allergy services: still not meeting the unmet need.

Anaphylaxis Campaign CEO, Lynne Regent, said “We are very pleased to see the RCP developing this scheme to improve the quality of allergy services for adults. It is a positive step that has been required for many years”

This scheme comes after ongoing discussions in the allergy community regarding the need to develop a process by which the quality of allergy services can be assured. The importance of this was highlighted in the RCP working party report Allergy services: still not meeting the unmet need (RCP, 2010). Responding to this need, IQAS was launched in October 2011, initially as a registration scheme, but with plans to develop standards for a robust accreditation scheme over the next two years.

The medical royal colleges’ Joint Committee on Immunology and Allergy (JCIA) — with expert guidance from the RCP’s Accreditation Unit — has developed these standards, which will underpin a robust, yet supportive adult allergy accreditation scheme. This work has been possible because of the financial support of the RCP, the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the British Society for Immunology and the Royal College of Pathologists.

More information can be found here

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a registered charity that aims to ensure high quality care for patients by promoting the highest standards of medical practice. It provides and sets standards in clinical practice and education and training, conducts assessments and examinations, quality assures external audit programmes, supports doctors in their practice of medicine, and advises the government, public and the profession on healthcare issues.