Judi Costello had to battle for six years to see a consultant about her daughter’s nut allergy.

Public hospital services for treating children with allergies are completely swamped with year-long waits for first appointments, and three-year waits for a vital food allergy test at the country’s most established paediatric allergy centre.

Children with potentially fatal food allergies are forced to wait up to three years to be tested because hospital screening services cannot cope with demand.