Your appointment: what to expect — London Allergy Consultants

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What Happens During a Typical Appointment?

Please find below a detailed outline of our clinic routine for allergy appointments.

Appointments usually last approximately 60 minutes. The clinic routine involves the following steps:

Completion of booking documentation and registration

Measurement of height and weight (unless recently reliably performed)

After initially being led by a nurse, a specialist allergy nurse will perform a skin prick test, followed by a lung function test (if required).

Consultation with Dr Du Toit or Dr Foong will include:

Additional history- Physical examination (Unless the visit is done as a remote appt.)- Interpretation of skin prick test results- Discussion of diagnosis and potential differential diagnoses- Advice on dietary and environmental modifications (if required)- Prescription of medications and emergency plan (this is usually done online)- Training on how to identify and treat allergic reactions- Provision'/signposting to additional educational materialWe may refer you to a specialist pediatric allergy dietitian if required.Blood testing may be necessary (we will offer local anaesthetic cream beforehand). Please note that the lab (TDL or HCA) will charge separately for this service. Please ensure that you are covered before undergoing any testing.A detailed summary will be generated and sent to both the referring doctor and you within 14 days. Please inform the practice if you prefer the consultation summary not to be sent via email.We hope this information helps you understand what to expect during an allergy appointment at our clinic.Follow up with results will typically be on a Zoom call within 2-4 weeks after the appointment.

After Your Appointment (Follow-Up Advice)

Note: This advice only applies to patients under the care of Dr Du Toit and is not generic allergy advice.

A detailed clinical summary will be issued. Your GP or referring consultant/s will receive a copy of the same report (unless you state otherwise).
A follow up appointment may be required; this will be to discuss any questions that may arise after your first appointment. This is usually undertaken as a remote video follow up.
Blood results will be discussed in detail at a follow up appointment.

For further support, we recommend joining:

Allergy UK
UK Anaphylaxis Camp (see advice for newly diagnosed)
USA FARE (see advice for newly diagnosed)

Information on Oral Food or Drug Challenges

If Dr Du Toit has provided a specific diagnosis, please review related allergen advice:

Allergic Diagnoses – Additional Info

Your clinical summary may refer to one or more allergic conditions. Find out more about:

Additional resources for the newly diagnosed food allergic family

How to Get the Most Out of Your Allergy Appointment

Please ensure that you have confirmed your appointment time and the location of the clinic you are attending. It is recommended that you arrive a little early to complete documentation. You will need to register on-site and provide your insurance and GP details. We also have GDPR requirements that need to be met, so an early arrival for your appointment is wise.
Please stop taking anti-histamine medications at least 2 days before your appointment. Other medicines such as asthma medicines and antibiotics will not interfere with Allergy testing. If antihistamines cannot be stopped, Dr. Du Toit will still be able to perform IgE Allergy testing.
Take some time to think carefully about events surrounding your/your child's medical concern/s. Make a list of questions you would like answered and bring along any digital images, respiratory sound clips, video clips, referral letters, and hospital discharge notes of past allergy 'episodes'. Also, bring content lists of processed foods that may have caused a reaction.
If you suspect that a food may be associated with your/your child's symptoms, please ensure that we offer the test for this particular food. We offer various test extracts for skin testing and will facilitate testing if you bring a small specimen of the food to the clinic (no more than 3 specimens), in case we don't offer the test for the particular food you are concerned about.
You may also wish to bring along any expired Epipen, JEXT or Emerade devices, so that we can train you to use them. To help reduce any anxiety, please feel free to bring along your/your child's favourite distractions or comforters, for example, a teddy bear, comfort blanket, toy, or Ipad.VD or other electronic gizmo's.

Referrals

GP referrals account for the majority of patients seen by Dr Du Toit. Referrals to the practice also typically come from other specialists in the disciplines of Dermatology, Ear Nose and Throat Medicine, Dietetics, Gastroenterology, Anaesthetists and Respiratory medicine physicians. Self-paying self-referrals are occasionally seen.

Most UK-based medical insurers will require that your GP provide a referral letter. We will always try our best to accommodate urgent referrals.

Accredited Embassies - We will only see patients sponsored by an accredited embassy, for example, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, USA if a valid letter of guarantee addressed to Dr G Du Toit is provided. The letter should state the patient's name, treatments covered and the appointment date.

Remote Consultations

Dr du Toit is able to undertake remote consultations via Zoom.

After an initial consultation, if allergy testing is required, this will need to be undertaken locally at a 'willing' Lab that undertakes IgE testing using the Immuno-Cap system, ISAC test or ALEX IgE test.

Dr Du Toit will then feed back to you with the results in a follow up Zoom and will issue a summary.

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