Finalist
Improving Anaphylaxis Treatment – A North West Initiative
Summary of work
Anaphylaxis is a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction yet it has been documented that 75 per cent of healthcare professionals cannot correctly demonstrate the correct administration technique for adrenaline auto-injectors.
ALK-Abelló joined forces with the North West Allergy Group, a network of specialist doctors and nurses working in allergy. The objective was to improve anaphylaxis treatment by upskilling healthcare professionals to better train patients on when and how to administer life-saving adrenaline.
This collaboration included tailored training sessions for healthcare professionals in both primary and secondary care supported by distribution of customised patient materials along with a healthcare professional training video on correct auto-injector technique. Working in partnership has given healthcare professionals the confidence that patients’ and carers’ training is completed and maintained to a high standard.
Delegates attending the training were asked to complete a questionnaire; following the training 97 per cent were confident when to administer adrenaline and 88 per cent were confident they could correctly train someone else.
Commenting on the project Consultant Paediatric Allergists Dr Vibha Sharma and Dr Aideen Byrne, “Collaboration between The North West Paediatric Allergy network implementation group and ALK-Abelló’s team has been very productive in providing training materials and teaching sessions across the region”.
Judges’ comments
This was a good, simple but effective programme that was executed well to cover all relevant healthcare professionals and schools, where anaphylaxis training is so important. Moving forward we would really like to see this rolled out more widely.
