Nurse led Allergy Clinic in Edinburgh, Scotland

A mixed methods feasibility pilot Nurse-led allergy clinic ran for 4 years between 2016 and 2020 and was hosted by the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian and funded by Allergy UK. This novel clinic was initiated within the SE and SW area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to assess the feasibility of setting up an intermediary service in primary care, look at filling gaps in allergy service provision within Scotland and to measure the acceptability of the service to the patients, their families and health care professionals who used it.

The two specialist nurses, supported by local specialists, were required to diagnose, manage, carry out investigations where necessary, prescribe and provide follow-up for patients/parents. Referrals into the clinic were accepted, provided they fulfilled the inclusion criteria from all primary care practitioners within the cluster locality who saw patients with allergies.

The clinic started out offering face to face consultations with a phone review, but this was adapted to remote consultation as a result of the Covid pandemic during 2020.

Analysis of the quality of life data, indicated there was an improvement in the quality of life scores between baseline and 6-12 week follow-up in three of the four groups, however this should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size of this study.