Department of Health Economics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Department of Immunology, University Hospital of North Midlands NHS Trust, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
Clin Exp Allergy. 2019 Mar;49(3):357-365. doi: 10.1111/cea.13334. Epub 2019 Feb 11.
The prevalence, severity and complexity of allergic diseases have been increasing steadily in the United Kingdom over the last few decades. Primary care physicians are often not adequately trained in allergy management while specialist services for allergy are scarce and heterogeneous. Services, therefore, have been unable to meet the rising demand. This is particularly true for paediatric allergy services in the United Kingdom.
To understand parent experiences with paediatric allergy pathways in the West Midlands (WM) region of the United Kingdom.
Parents of children aged between 0 and 16 years from the WM region were recruited opportunistically until thematic saturation was achieved. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were carried out and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed on NVivo software using the framework method. Themes were identified from the transcripts as well as from existing literature.
Parents highlighted numerous issues related to allergy services in the region including difficulties with being taken seriously by their physicians, problems with accessing health care and issues with information and the need for additional supportive care for allergies.
Primary care for children with allergies in the WM is disparate. Parents experience difficulties in accessing primary and secondary care services and also obtaining timely and appropriate information regarding their child's allergies. Most parents were happy to be reviewed by either specialist nurses or by consultants in the hospital. Improving accessibility and availability of reliable information as well as provision of additional services (such as psychologists and dietetics) were highlighted by parents as being important to allergy services in the region. These findings can help inform future planning and commissioning of allergy services.
在过去几十年中，英国的过敏疾病的患病率、严重程度和复杂性一直在稳步上升。初级保健医生在过敏管理方面的培训往往不够充分，而过敏专科服务稀缺且多样化。因此，服务无法满足不断增长的需求。英国的儿科过敏服务尤其如此。
了解英国西米德兰兹（WM）地区父母对儿科过敏途径的体验。
从 WM 地区招募 0 至 16 岁儿童的父母，直到达到主题饱和。进行了 18 次半结构化访谈，并逐字记录。在 NVivo 软件上使用框架方法对数据进行分析。从转录本以及现有文献中确定主题。
父母强调了该地区过敏服务存在的诸多问题，包括医生对他们的重视程度存在困难、获得医疗保健存在问题、信息问题以及对过敏症的额外支持性护理的需求。
WM 地区儿童过敏的初级保健参差不齐。父母在获得初级和二级保健服务以及及时获得有关其子女过敏症的适当信息方面存在困难。大多数父母很高兴由专科护士或医院顾问进行复查。父母强调改善该地区过敏服务的可及性和可靠信息的可用性以及提供额外服务（如心理学家和营养师）的重要性。这些发现可以帮助为过敏服务的未来规划和委托提供信息。
