Do you need a referral?
You do not need a referral to see Children’s Allergy Doctors, however, many insurance companies require a referral in order to authorise your appointment. Please do check with your insurance provider before contacting us.
How can you book an appointment?
You can telephone our practice on 0203 146 7721 Monday – Friday 9.00am – 5.30pm to book an appointment, or, for patients who wish to book outside these hours you can also book an appointment online.
If you are covered by medical insurance, please ensure you have contacted your insurance provider before booking an appointment, as we will need your membership number and a pre-authorisation number to book your appointment.
Before your appointment
In the event of skin testing being performed, it is important to avoid any antihistamine or medication that contains antihistamine (such as some cough medicines) for at least five days prior to the appointment.
Inhalers should not be stopped nor should any other medication.
Read the top tips for your visit for further information and advice.
What do you need to bring to your appointment?
Please bring with you any previous clinic letters or allergy tests related to allergy or pertinent to the consultation. If your child has reacted to a food, please bring the list of ingredients so that this can be assessed during the consultation. Please contact the restaurant or catering establishment to provide the list of ingredients if the allergic reaction occurred in this setting.
Children’s Allergy Doctors provides skin prick tests for common food and inhalant allergens. Certain rarer allergens will not be on site, and we request that you bring this with you for skin prick testing. This is particularly the case for fish, fruits, vegetables, and legumes that are better tested fresh that from an extract.
What happens on the day of your appointment
Please arrive 10 minutes before your appointment. The hospital administrative staff will confirm your details and if you are self-funding, they will request your credit card details to cover any additional charges from the hospital (e.g. skin prick tests or blood tests). You will see our experienced paediatric allergy clinical nurse specialist, who will take a short history and perform any skin prick test or breathing tests required. After the investigations are completed, we will provide the clinical consultation, including taking a history, examining your child and making any recommendations and plans for follow-up visits. Blood tests if needed can usually be done on the day of the visit with our experienced phlebotomists who are located on the same floor. Chest X-rays can also be performed on the same day. Some scans may require a separate appointment, but we will advise you and support you with any questions that you may have.
Patients are advised to ask as many questions as possible during your initial appointment, and if there are any further questions, these can be discussed at a follow-up appointment. If you do have any questions after your appointment, you can email us. Email queries for the first time will not be charged but any further emails will be charged (£30-£230) depending on complexity and time spent on the response.