Adrenaline nasal spray in schools: MHRA opens consultation until 14 December

On the morning of 19 October the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) opened an eight-week consultation: schools would be allowed to buy and keep spare adrenaline not only as an auto-injector but also as a nasal spray. The consultation runs UK-wide, jointly with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland, and closes on 14 December 2026.

What exactly would change?

An amendment to the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 — the rules that already let a school keep spare adrenaline in a cupboard without a prescription naming an individual child. Today that exemption is written only for adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs). The proposal extends it to adrenaline nasal spray (ANS), authorised in the UK in July 2025.

If the amendment goes through, a school could choose for itself: auto-injectors, nasal sprays, or both. Either product could be used in an emergency regardless of which type of device the pupil has been prescribed.

Why is this coming up now?

Because school is where anaphylaxis happens more often than people assume. MHRA puts food allergy at around 8% of children and young people in the UK, and says around 20% of serious allergic reactions to food happen in a school setting.

The second reason is that the technology has outrun the law. The spray is on the market; the legislation still describes only a needle. MHRA says plainly that it wants to close that gap — and it is also asking whether the rules should use broader wording, so the next authorised adrenaline product does not need a separate amendment of its own.

Does this scrap auto-injectors in schools?

No. The proposal removes nothing and would not require a school to stock any particular product or brand. The school supply stays exactly what it is: a backup. The expectation that a child at known risk of anaphylaxis carries their own prescribed medicine remains in full.

Two existing safeguards also remain. School-held adrenaline may be given only to a pupil the school already knows to be at risk of anaphylaxis, and only by appropriately trained staff.

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How does this connect to Benedict's Law?

Directly. The first phase of Benedict's Law came into force in England in September 2026. The government announced it on 5 March 2026, and it was that package which first turned guidance into a legal duty: a school must stock spare adrenaline auto-injectors, provide allergy awareness training for all staff, and hold a written policy for supporting children with medical conditions, including Individual Healthcare Plans.

The law is named after Benedict Blythe, who died of an allergic reaction at school. The same March announcement carries the figure behind the policy, beyond saving lives: 500,000 school days lost in a year to allergy-related illness or medical appointments.

Who can respond to the consultation?

Anyone: schools and school staff, parents and carers, healthcare professionals, and people at risk of anaphylaxis themselves. MHRA makes a point of saying it is not looking only for professional replies. The consultation text went up on GOV.UK on 19 October and runs for eight weeks, to 14 December 2026.

Julian Beach, MHRA Executive Director, Operations, framed the question this way: should schools be able to buy and hold these products alongside, or in place of, the auto-injectors they can already stock. That is the question being put.

What should a parent do right now?

Nothing has changed yet, so the current routine stands. If your child is at confirmed risk of anaphylaxis, the school should hold an Individual Healthcare Plan, and the child should carry their own prescribed device. Check the expiry date on the pen, and ask the school which staff are trained and where the spare kit is kept: since September 2026 that is a duty, not a favour.

The NHS lists the signs of anaphylaxis briefly: swelling of the tongue or throat, wheezing, difficulty breathing, confusion, clammy skin, loss of consciousness. The response is one thing — adrenaline immediately, and call 999.