New NICE guidance on drug allergies published

New regulations have been published to help minimise the number of NHS patients in England who are harmed by an allergic reaction to a prescription drug.

The new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the first document from the regulator on this topic and aims to dispel confusion around best practice in assessment, documentation, communication and referral matters.

Thorough assessment of any person who is suspected of having a drug allergy has been recommended, with details of what signs to look out for – including hives, redness, swelling, fevers and liver dysfunction – provided by the guidance.

Moreover, major issues were raised with current clinical documentation of drug allergy, with insufficient information being recorded and shared with other healthcare professionals or people with allergies themselves.

Professor Mark Baker, director of the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE, said: "This new guideline encourages all healthcare professionals to be alert to the possibility of drug allergies and offers best practice on clinical management to ensure every individual is spared from serious harm."

Currently,around 62,000 people in England are hospitalised by a serious allergic reaction to a drug, with a recent National Reporting and Learning System study indicating that in many cases patients received drugs to which they were already known to be allergic.