The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has launched a consultation on proposals that would allow schools to purchase and keep spare adrenaline nasal sprays for emergency use in children with severe allergies. This consultation is being carried out UK-wide, jointly with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland.
Schools currently have the option to hold spare adrenaline auto-injectors for emergencies. The new proposals would give schools the choice to hold adrenaline auto-injectors, adrenaline nasal sprays, or both. Existing safeguards would remain, meaning emergency adrenaline could only be administered by appropriately trained school staff to children known to be at risk of anaphylaxis.
Julian Beach, MHRA Executive Director, Operations, stated that adrenaline nasal sprays would offer an additional treatment option for children at risk of anaphylaxis. Amena Warner, Head of Clinical Services at Allergy UK, highlighted that a needle-free device administered into the nose could offer parents, children, and young people more confidence in using it promptly.
The consultation also seeks views on how these proposals would work in practice and whether broader terminology for self-administered adrenaline products should be used in legislation for future products. The consultation is open for eight weeks and welcomes responses from various groups, including schools, parents, and healthcare professionals. The full consultation will be available from 19 October and closes on 14 December 2026.