Your child's appointment with our allergy service

If you'd like your child to be seen by one of our specialists, they 'll need to be referred by their GP or a health professional from another hospital.

We want to make your visit to our clinic as easy and efficient as we can by combining the consultation, allergy testing and specialist input from other professionals, such as dietitians, all in one visit. This may involve short periods of waiting, but means you will only need to visit us once.

About your appointment

If your child is taking antihistamine medicine (for example, Piriton^©, Zitek^© or Clarityn^©) they will need to stop taking them before they come for their appointment as they might interfere with the test. Please stop taking:

short-acting antihistamines, such as Chlorphenamine (also known as Piriton^©) 2 days before the appointment
long-acting antihistamines, such as Cetirizine and Loratidine (also known as Zirtek^© and Clarityn^©) 5 days before the appointment.

Please be aware that some cough and cold remedies (such as Benylin^© and Medised^©) contain antihistamine. Please speak to your pharmacist if you have any questions.

Your child does not need to stop taking any other medicines such as asthma inhalers, nasal sprays or other medicines. Please bring details of your child’s medicines with you to the clinic. If your child uses inhalers please bring these and their spacer device with you to the appointment.

We have skin prick test extracts for many allergens such as nuts, egg, milk, fish, pollens, animals and some medicines. However, if you suspect fruit and vegetables may cause a problem and want to be tested for these, please bring a small quantity of the particular fruit or vegetable with you to the clinic.

If you have any questions, please phone the outpatient team on 020 7188 7249.

If your appointment is a face-to-face, your child may see a variety of specialists, including consultants, nurses and dietitians. They may have a series of allergy tests including:

skin prick testing
atopy patch testing
spirometry (lung function testing)
exhaled nitric oxide (ENO testing).

We may also give you advice about how to manage their allergies, such as how to use inhalers and nasal sprays and how to manage eczema. We'll tell you what to do if your child has an allergic reaction, including the correct use of antihistamines and adrenaline auto injectors.

Our dietitian will tell you how to avoid foods your child is allergic to and make sure they're having a balanced diet within the limitations of their allergies.

Your doctor or nurse may give you a prescription for your child, which you can take to the hospital pharmacy or to your GP.

If your child needs to have a blood test, one of the nurses will give you directions to the blood testing centre and will apply local anaesthetic cream to numb the skin before the blood test if required.

If you need to speak to someone after your child’s appointment, please phone 020 7188 3300.