This campaign originated on March 15, 2015, as a direct response to the British Society for Allergy & Clinical Immunology (BSACI) recommending that patients with life-threatening allergies should carry only one or zero auto-injector adrenaline pens for protection.
Fast forward to four weeks ago, when the BSACI announced a review of adrenaline auto-injector prescriptions and released new guidance for Primary Care. '' This guidance, based on current practice and addressing clinical questions and gaps in care from reported fatalities, recommends that General Practitioners (GPs) provide two adrenaline auto-injectors to individuals at significant risk of anaphylaxis and always carry two.''
Our Petition was supported and signed by 57,093 individuals including many Doctor's, Consultants, and Nurses.
It is disappointing that it took the BSACI such a long time to revise their guidelines, especially considering the urgent need for updated advice when our campaign began 8 years ago!. However, we were somewhat reassured when a few years ago the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) advised GPs and Pharmacies years ago that a minimum of two auto-injectors should be issued at all times. This prompted us to step back from our campaigning, as we believed most people requiring adrenaline pens were being adequately protected.
With the new guidance from the BSACI, we hope our campaign can finally come to an end. We are shocked and disappointed that it took the organisation this long to make the right decision, despite being aware of the urgent need for revision when our campaign started. Over the past eight years, as a campaign group we have collected hundreds of accounts of near-death incidents caused by inadequate prescription of less than two auto-injector pens. We have also received numerous accounts of poor GP services and advice for individuals with allergies, which the BSACI seemed to ignore. If you wish to enquire about the "fatalities" and "gaps in care," we ask you to directly approach the BSACI, as we believe it is not appropriate for us to discuss this further with respect to the families involved.
Over the years, numerous families have reached out to express gratitude for raising awareness and attributing their knowledge of carrying two auto-injectors to saving their life before ambulances arrived. So, clearly, our efforts were not in vain. Our hashtag, born from the campaign is used and recognised word wide and you will see it appear on many allergy campaigns and media posts. We sincerely thank you for supporting our mission to educate and advocate. Your personal accounts, campaign photos, posters, and letters' to G.P's and M.P's all helped raise awareness.
As we move forward, please always remember to #alwayscarrytwo, and if you need to provide evidence to your prescriber, you can find the link to the BSACI update on their website. The NHS website and the MHRA have already been advising the same for years on their respective platforms.
We hope that in the future, the BSACI will be more open to listening to patient and family concerns rather than selectively choosing information that aligns with their preferences.
#staysafe #alwayscarrytwo