Allergy
The paediatric allergy team at the RD&E is a holistic team comprising of doctors, nurses and dietitians. We run a comprehensive allergy clinic, covering the full range of allergies and related conditions such as:
- Food allergies
- Hay fever
- Allergies to year round allergens such as house dust mites and animals
- Drug allergy
- Anaphylaxis
- Chronic Urticaria and Angioedema
- Allergies to bee and wasp stings
- Allergic asthma
- Eczema
- Mast cell disorders
We see children birth up to 18 years and offer a “one stop shop” clinic appointment with access to testing and dietetics. We focus on early prevention of allergies and attempt to work on safe food re-introductions following the most up to date evidence, whilst focussing on the child as whole.
More on what we do
The paediatric allergy team provide a range of services including:
- Blood tests – specific IgE and component tests
- Skin prick testing
- Food exclusions and re-introduction led by our dietitian
We work closely with the other specialities in the hospital such as dermatology, who run a children's skin service, ophthalmology, ENT, gastroenterology and respiratory and offer joint clinics or joint reviews as appropriate.
If you child reaches adolescence with us, we run a monthly adolescent clinic aimed at supporting the young person and family in their next phase. If ended, we refer on to the adult allergy unit at the Eden Unit in Derriford.
Treatments
We may institute a range of therapies, including skin, nasal and eye treatments, as well as inhalers or adrenaline pens if needed. We give comprehensive education, training and support around your child and family to ensure the best outcomes, and liaise closely with schools and nurseries as needed. We provide written emergency plans and a comprehensive list of supportive websites or groups to continue to aid your family.
If your child is ever admitted to hospital, our team will aim to meet you on the ward to review your allergic conditions if appropriate.
We offer a range of treatments such as:
- Food challenges and supervised feeds to introduce food back in to the diet, prove a food allergy and show that a food allergy has been outgrown
- Drug challenges to oral medication and local anaesthetics
- Oral immunotherapy for air borne allergies
- Immunotherapy for bee and wasp allergies
- Biological therapies for chronic urticaria
Our team
Consultants
- Dr Siân Ludman
- Dr Rebecca Franklin
- Dr Emily Chesshyre
Allergy/Respiratory Clinical Nurse Specialists
- Mich Curtis
- Abbie Rickards
Paediatric Allergy Dietitian
- Lorna Pring
Where to find us
RD&E Wonford, Barrack Rd, Exeter EX2 5DW
Contact us
If you want to get in touch with the department, please contact:
Telephone: 01392 406633
Patient leaflets and documents
Helpful websites
Clinics
The clinics we run are:
- General allergy clinics twice a week
- Weekly supervised feed and oral food challenge on Bramble Day Care Unit
- Monthly specialist clinics for drug allergy and difficult to manage urticaria
- Alternate monthly specialist clinics with paediatric dermatology and paediatric gastroenterology
- Two paediatric allergy dietitian clinics a week
- Two clinical nurse specialist clinics a week
You can also see a list of our allergy clinics on the BSACI website: www.bsaci.org/allergy-clinic/royal-devon-and-exeter-nhs-foundation-trust.
Supporting you
We have a strong link with our clinical psychology colleagues and liaise with them if there are any allergy specific anxiety or related conditions that we feel would benefit from extra emotional support.
Information for healthcare professionals
Referral criteria are all on the North & East Devon Formulary on the paediatric pages and are disease specific.
For information about schools keeping spare adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) for emergency use, visit the 'Spare Pens in Schools' page on the Allergy UK website.
Health care professional documents
- Appropriate milks for children with suspected IgE and non-IgE mediated cow’s milk allergy (GR-GL-PD04-02)
- Home challenge for children with non-IgE/delayed cow’s milk allergy (GR-GL-PD06-01)
- How to confirm a diagnosis of non-IgE cow's milk protein allergy (GR-GL-PD07-01)
- Lactose intolerance (GR-GL-PD05-02)
- Prescription of feed thickeners and thickened formulas for reflux (GR-GL-PD10-01)
- Stepping down from amino acid formula (GR-GL-PD11-01)
- Suspected IgE mediated food allergy in children (GR-GL-PD02-03)
- Suspected Non-IgE mediated food allergy in children (GR-GL-PD03-03)