6558 Surveillance of the quality of the allergy service provided in district general hospitals

Objectives The purpose of this audit is to assess the quality of care provided by the allergy service in The University hospital of Durham and Darlington NHS trusts, with regard to management of allergic conditions in children. All children surveyed had IgE mediated food allergy, an additional 48% had asthma, 42% hay fever/rhinitis, 61% eczema and .06% 'other.' The aim is to identify areas for improving the allergy healthcare provided to patients and their families. Methods Data was collected via a Patient Reported Experience Measure (PREM).1 This tool was developed by The RCPCH. Questions were designed to be answered by (1) the parent/carer of the child with allergy symptoms2 and (2) the child with allergy or symptoms over the age of seven.3 31 surveys were collected over 2 months from September to October 2023. All answers were confidential without any identifying information provided. Results These results refer to children ranging from the ages of 10 months to 17 years. 90% of participants were last seen regarding their allergy by specialist allergy staff. 90% of children who filled out this survey felt like they were spoken to by staff in an 'understandable way,' and 80% believed they had enough information about their allergic condition. 30% of children surveyed note the desire for more information regarding specific support groups. Overall, 90% of children over the age of 7 recorded that their allergic condition is managed 'very well' by healthcare. 93% of parents who participated in the survey had 'confidence and trust' in the members of staff. The overall satisfaction of the allergy services is very good, where 71% felt 'very well' looked after and 29% felt 'fairly well' looked after. With regards to communication of healthcare staff with nursery/schools, 61% of recorded answers by parents fell into the categories of 'NO' communication with schools or 'Do not know'. Only 80% of parents recorded having a personal management plan. Conclusion Results and feedback collected from this survey were generally positive. Areas for improvement which have been highlighted are, communication between healthcare professionals and schools/nursery. Significantly, the RCPCH allergy care audit criteria set standard for the percentage of children given management plans is 100%.4 However, this is provided to all children and parents; therefore, this outlines a need for more informed education of the information provided by our allergy services. References Allergy care pathways – education resources for healthcare professionals, RCPCH 2011. PREM 1 – for parents and carers of children under 8 years, RCPCH 2011. PREM 1 – for children and young people over 8 years, RCPCH 2011. RCPCH Allergy Care Pathways Project – Audit criteria, RCPCH 2011.