Top tips for your visit

Top Tips to Get the Best from Your Visit

We want to ensure your visit runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Please follow these key tips to help you and your child have a positive experience:

1. Stop Antihistamines in Advance
   • Please stop giving your child antihistamines (or any cough medicines containing antihistamines) at least five days before the appointment. This is crucial to ensure accurate test results.
   • Do not stop inhalers or any other prescribed medication.

2. Bring All Medications
   • Please bring all current medications and inhalers that your child is taking to the appointment.

3. Prepare a History and Questions
   • Write down a brief history of your child’s condition and any questions you would like to ask during the visit. This will help ensure all your concerns are addressed.

4. Provide Ingredient Details for Reactions
   • If your child has reacted to packaged food, bring the list of ingredients for assessment. If the reaction occurred at a restaurant or catering establishment, contact them in advance to request the ingredient details.

5. Skin Prick Testing for Allergens
   • We provide skin prick tests for common food and inhalant allergens.
   • For fresh foods such as fruits, vegetables, or rare allergens, please bring these with you, as they may not be available at the clinic.
   • Contact our practice team if you have questions about what to bring.

6. Discuss the Appointment with Your Child
   • Let your child know what to expect. Explain that they will:
     • See a nurse who will perform allergy tests (e.g., skin prick testing and breathing tests if they are 5 years or older).
     • Then meet the doctor, who will talk about their allergies, perform a physical exam, and discuss a management plan.

7. Pack Essentials for Your Child
   • Bring food, drinks, and entertainment (toys, books, or devices) to keep your child comfortable.
   • For younger children, bring nappies, wipes and if they are on formula, bring extra supplies.

8. Supervised Feed Appointments
   • If you are attending for a supervised feed, the appointment will last 2-3 hours.
   • You will need to bring the food being tested and other foods your child is likely to eat with it.
   • Please also bring the usual feeding equipment that they are familiar with, such as a bowl, cutlery and bib (as appropriate)
   • Please bring a change of clothes in case they vomit.

9. Consider Bringing Support
   • You may wish to bring a relative or friend to help during the visit, especially if you are bringing multiple children. Please note that the waiting room at ENT4kids is quite small so please only bring additional people if required for your support.

Following these tips will help ensure your visit is productive, stress-free, and tailored to your child’s needs. If you have any further questions, our team is always here to help!

What parents say:

“As a family, we feel incredibly grateful our child is under the care of Dr Brough. Dr Brough’s commitment to excellence, her breadth and depth of knowledge, the respect with which she treats patients and families, her humanity and kindness are much evident. Her approach to our daughter and her symptoms was intelligent, thorough and sensitive. The excellent and immediate care – appropriate referrals, attention to detail and follow-up is exemplary, and, in my experience, unparalleled. Dr Brough’s support staff – both admin and nursing – are also to be commended for their outstanding communication, efficiency and kindness.”