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The Trust is one of a few healthcare providers in the UK that offers up-to-date management and treatments for paediatric allergies.
The service treats children with all types of allergies. The most common type of patient we see are children with food allergies but we also see and manage children with airborne allergies as well as drug allergies.
We offer treatment and management including milk and egg desensitisation as well as immunotherapy against pollens and dust mites.
Services
We hold clinics in the West Midlands for children with simple and complex allergies. These would include food, airborne, drug and multiple allergies. We would also review, if appropriate, your asthma and eczema management to ensure your child is in good health.
You will be seen by one of our team and we will talk to you about your concerns, with regard to allergy.
Based on the information we will organise for a skin test to be performed on the same day or a blood test to be done.
Based on the results of this we will give you a personalised allergy management plan for both your child and if appropriate, the school/nursery.
You will also see a dietitian and a specialist nurse to ensure you understand how to avoid food triggers and also how to recognise and treat reactions, should they occur.
This does mean you may spend two to three hours in the clinic, but will leave fully informed of your child’s condition and appropriate management. Please allow for this to be at the hospital.
Food challenges
For those children where there is either uncertainty about allergy, or where we think the child may have grown out of the allergy, we may organise a food challenge. This means you will come in for a morning and be given slowly increasing amounts of food, with close observation. The outcome of the challenge would either be that there is no evidence of food allergy or that we would confirm the food allergy. We perform sufficient numbers as per BSACI guidance.
Immunotherapy
We are aware that although some children with hayfever are well controlled with treatment, some are not and in these children, the symptoms can have a dramatic effect on their quality of life.
We are able to offer immunotherapy against both pollen and dust to help improve your child’s symptoms. This is particularly important in teenagers as we are aware that those with poorly controlled hayfever are 40 per cent more likely to drop a grade between their mock and final exams.
Desensitisation
Although most children with egg and milk allergy grow out of it by the time they go to school, for those who do not we are aware that it can adversely affect social activities and going out.
We therefore offer desensitisation to milk and egg such that children can tolerate it in their diet to varying amounts until they have grown out of it naturally, over time.
Testing
We have one of the only laboratories in the UK that can test different components of allergens which can tell you about the likelihood of a severe reaction. This can enable us to give you a personalised plan, but also to ensure that patients are not avoiding foods unnecessarily.
Clinics
Paediatric allergy clinics take place cross-site as noted below. Please be aware that you may be placed in clinic on either site and therefore, please check your letter carefully to ensure you attend the right clinic.
City:
- Paediatric allergy clinic – Tuesday mornings.
- Food challenges – Tuesday
Sandwell:
- Paediatric allergy clinic – Wednesday mornings, Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings.
- Food Challenges – Monday afternoons and Wednesday mornings.
Patient Information
Last modified: 15 January 2024
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