This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Adult allergy patients could be managed by general practitioner

A quarter to a half of allergy referrals may be more appropriate for a general practitioner with a special interest in allergy vs. a hospital allergy clinic, according to recent research.

“Up to half of the allergy referrals to our hospital-based service could be managed by a [general practitioner with special interest] in a community-based clinic, thereby diversifying the patient pathway, allowing specialist services to focus on more complex cases and reducing the waiting time for first appointments,” Helen E. Smith, BM BS, MSc, DM, MRCGP, FFPHM, of the division of primary care and public health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom, and colleagues wrote.

The researchers analyzed 100 general practitioner referrals to a hospital-based allergy clinic to determine whether a general practitioner at a community-based clinic with a special interest in allergy would be able to appropriately manage aspects of care such as accurate diagnosis and management, assessment for desensitization, skin prick testing and providing allergy avoidance advice, according to the abstract. Three allergy specialists evaluated the quality of referral letters of general practitioners first, followed by a re-evaluation with information from the clinic letter to measure whether general practitioners with special interest would be able to prospectively manage triage situations.

The allergy specialists agreed 29% of referrals would be appropriate for a general practitioner with a special interest in allergy. Two specialists approved an additional 30% of referrals for a general practitioner with special interest.

Smith and colleagues noted 18% of referrals required an allergy specialist due to the need for special facilities or specific knowledge, complexity of the problem or patient comorbidity, according to the abstract. – by Jeff Craven

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.