The Royal College of Physicians has concluded that allergy services in the NHS are either ''slow'' or ''non existent,'' urging that more provisions be set aside for those suffering from allergies.

The report condemns the UK's ''inadequate'' allergy services, saying that the gap between the number of patients requiring treatment and the number of specialists able to deal with them needs to be bridged. Commissioned by the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Pathologists and the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the study looked at geographical inequalities in allergy care and focused on improvements in allergy services.

With a shortage in allergy specialists, GP's, those in nurse manager jobs or other frontline healthcare roles are having to focus their skills on allergy treatments as the hayfever season reaches its peak.

According to The Telegraph, 14 million people in the UK suffer from an allergic reaction - typically hayfever which causes runny noses and itchy, weeping eyes, rendering the summer a misery for some people.

The 'Allergy Services: Still not meeting the unmet need' recommended action from the Department of Health to increase the number of allergy specialists and ensure such services are protected from impending cuts.

Dr Bill Egner, consultant in immunology at Borthern General Hospital, commented on the study's findings in Pulse, saying: ''This report offers an ideal opportunity to engage patients and physicians in positive action to improve services with the support of Government.''

''We can do better and allergy services can still improve,'' he added.