IQAS has launched updated standards for allergy services in April 2019, for both general and specialised allergy services. The standards have been released alongside a set of clinical quality and workforce metrics census, to be captured annually.
The revised standards have been aligned with a nationally recognised standard owned and published by the British Standards Institute, which are specifically for clinical service accreditation schemes. For a summary of the changes to the standards please see the IQAS standards update summary.
During extensive consultation on the standards, we received responses from a wide group of people, including services, allergists, immunologists, societies, dieticians, allergy regional networks and allergy services in devolved nations.
Work has been undertaken on all the feedback provided during the consultation. Each person who provided feedback will be contacted individually.
Who is eligible to register with IQAS and to work towards the standards?
The revised standards are for both general and specialised allergy services.
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General allergy services
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Food challenge tests
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Drug challenge tests
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Allergen-specific immunotherapy
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Specialised allergy services
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ü
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ü
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ü
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ü
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General allergy services
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ü
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Optional
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Optional
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Optional
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Services planning their assessment
Services already registered with IQAS will have until 1 October 2019 to submit their self-assessment and provide a date for their assessment visit, in order to be assessed on the previous standards. However, they may choose to be assessed on the new standards instead, which is also perfectly acceptable. Any service which is not ready for their accreditation assessment by this time will be assessed on the new standards. The IQAS team will have individual conversations with any services aiming to be accredited within the next 6-8 months.
If you have any questions about the new standards, please contact the IQAS team on 0203 075 1508 or askiqas@rcplondon.ac.uk.