New guidance has said that children with eczema should not be offered bath emollients on the NHS. Watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said that after reviewing the evidence it had concluded that bath emollients are not clinically or cost effective.
Nice’s committee looked at evidence from the year-long Bathe trial in 2018, which found that pouring emollient additives into the bath provided no additional benefit over standard eczema care. The committee said that while emollient bath additives do not make eczema worse, prescribing an “ineffective” product places “unnecessary burdens” on patients and carers in terms of obtaining and using the products.
However, it added that some children may benefit from bath emollients. Products can still be bought over the counter if people want to continue using them. Nice’s guidance states that children can and should continue to use emollients and/or emollient wash products instead of soaps.
