Telephone
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, most new patients will be offered an initial telephone consultation. Routine follow up appointments may also be provided by telephone.
Patients will be sent a letter with an appointment date and time on. Please be ready to receive a telephone call within an hour of the scheduled time.
Please be somewhere away from distractions where you will be able to communicate clearly; if using a mobile phone please do your best to ensure good reception.
We will call you from a number beginning 0161 701 or a withheld number.
Main outpatients
We request to see patients in person mostly for the kinds of things that cannot be done over the phone; physical examinations, blood tests and skin tests. You may need to pause some medicines for a number of days before coming; this is so we can perform the skin tests. This will be discussed at your initial telephone consultation if required.
Please bring with you any photographs of previous rashes or swellings and a list of your current medications. We supply numerous skin testing reagents, and this includes a substantial nut panel. We also have egg, milk, wheat and various common fish and shellfish. If there is something not on this list that you believe you may be allergic to, please bring the item(s) with you and we may be able to undertake skin prick testing with it. We would recommend a maximum of 5 items. We would usually confirm items that you might need to bring with you in the initial telephone consultation prior to arranging to see you in the face-to-face clinic.
The main Outpatients department is situated close to A&E and the Grafton Street car park. If this is your first appointment you will be checked in at the main desk, before being directed to a clinic suite within the department. On any follow up appointments, you will be directed to the relevant suite and will not need to check in at the main desk.
ARC – anaesthetic reaction clinic
The anaesthetic reaction clinic is run by the department of anaesthesia and you will receive direct contact from anaesthesia with instruction for attendance.
SMDU
Specialist medicine day unit (SMDU) is the place we usually perform the more detailed investigations into allergy and some immunology procedures. Please check your letter in good time in case there is anything you need to bring with you or any medicines you need to stop taking before coming.
SMDU is situated on the 1st floor of the Peter Mount Building. This building is most easily accessed using the Hathersage Road entrance and is next to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. A map will be included. If you are travelling by car, your nearest multi-storey car park to the Day Unit is on Hathersage Road.
Letters
After appointments with the department, you will receive a copy of the letter addressed to your GP and any other specialists involved in your care. Letters addressed to your GP or other specialists may contain complex medical terminology.