+44 (0)1983 534373 Research: [email protected] | NHS Clinical Allergy: [email protected]
Patient Services
NHS Allergy Service
The NHS clinical allergy service is organised as a ‘one stop shop’, staffed by a multi-disciplinary team of doctors, specialist allergy nurses and dieticians. Adult and paediatric patients suffering from the whole spectrum of allergic disease are treated in the clinics at The David Hide Centre.
Patients are referred by General Practitioners and Consultants from the Island and the mainland. Children are seen by paediatricians with an interest in allergy, and adults by two consultant allergists who travel to the Island each week.
Separate nurse led clinics are held for patients suffering from eczema and for patients who have been prescribed self-injectable adrenaline for life-threatening allergies. Nurses also visit schools and nurseries on request to educate staff on anaphylaxis and administration of adrenaline.
Check out our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ (FAQ) page for the answers to some of the questions that we get asked most often.
Find out more about the different allergy tests; skin prick testing, patch tests and blood tests…
Asthma is the very common, long-term condition that affects your airways and breathing…
Find out more about the different types of eczema, the most common types and some of the symptoms and triggers.
Urticaria / Angioedema
Urticaria is also known as hives or nettle rash and is characterised by a lumpy, itchy rash like you get when you have been stung by nettles.
Rhinitis means inflammation of the lining of the nose and is where the membrane that lines the nose becomes inflamed.
Contact eczema is often referred to as dermatitis and is an acute or chronic skin reaction where there is sensitivity to materials or substances.
Wasps and bees sting as a defence mechanism – unless you have an allergic reaction, a sting is just painful not harmful.
Anaphylaxis (also known as anaphylactic shock) is a severe potentially fatal allergic reaction that affects the whole body usually within minutes.
In the financial year 2008/9, 720 new patients and 1080 follow-up patients were seen in the consultant led clinics. There were also 135 attendances for immunotherapy injections for life threatening allergy to bee and wasp venom and severe hay fever symptoms. In addition, 460 patients were seen in specialist nurse led clinics and 480 were seen by the allergy dietician.