Our Service

Established in 2010, the allergy service provides specialist diagnosis and care to people with severe and complex allergies e.g. food allergy, anaphylaxis and rhinitis. 

We also run a clinical immunology service dedicated to looking after individuals with defects in their immune system and also those with a rare genetic disorder known as hereditary angioedema (HAE). HAE is a rare disorder of the immune system that usually runs in families and results in unpredictable and occasionally serious skin or abdominal swellings.

Defects in immune systems are very rare and usually cause individuals to have severe, persistent, unusual or recurrent infections. Patients are often referred to us by other hospital consultants or by their own GPs for assessment.

 

Vulnerable patients

Some of our immunodeficiency patients are at increased risk of more severe disease from Covid-19.  It is difficult to make an accurate assessment of each persons risk.  However we understand that it is useful to have some guidance in this regard and we have therefore written to all patients under our care with immunodeficiency who we feel are in the vulnerable or high risk categories.  We have not written to patients with primarily respiratory or haematological problems, who may receive advice from other services.  However all patients with secondary antibody deficiency should take precautions recommended for vulnerable adults, unless informed otherwise..

There is good information available on the government website:

For vulnerable patients:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

For high risk patients:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19

 

Clinics

We are offering all our usual services.  If you have been offered a telephone appointment and would rather have a face to face appointment please let us know and we can change it.

In patient treatment:  We are only continuing essential treatment such as immunoglobulin infusions.  All hospital based care for allergy patients is cancelled except a small number of low risk patients on long term venom allergy treatment. 

Queries about your condition or treatment (we will answer within 2 working days)

Immunology/Allergy Nurse

Angela Cooper, Ann Ivory& Deborah Hughes

 

01782 672504

immunology.nurses@nhs.net

Administrative queries

Immunology/Allergy Secretary

 

Louise Barrow

01782 672594

Queries about appointments

Appointments call centre

 

01782 676676

Our services were rigorously assessed and approved as being of high quality by the Royal College of Physicians (London) through the QPIDS (Quality in Primary Immunodeficiency Services) and IQAS (Improving quality in allergy services) accreditation in 2018. 

Read the ful​l IQAS report or take a look at our IQAS certificate.

Read the full QPIDS report

  • To maintain high standards of service delivery and provide allergy and immunology services which are committed to upholding and promoting standards of best practice

  • To put patients at the centre of the service by involving them in their own care and in the running of the service

  • To provide safe care for patients, staff and others who come into contact with the service

Type of Clinic Location Day Times
General Allergy clinic County Hospital Outpatients Monday 9am -1pm
​ Royal Stoke Outpatients Clinic 3 Tuesday 9am -1pm
​ Royal Stoke Outpatients Clinic 3 Thursday 9am -1pm
​ Bradwell Hospital Outpatients Friday 8.30am-12.30pm
Allergy challenge clinic and immunotherapy clinic Royal Stoke ward 202 Tuesday 9am -1pm
Severe urticaria clinic Royal Stoke Outpatients Clinic 3 Tuesday 1.30pm -5pm
Allergy phone clinic   Friday 9am -1pm
Immunodeficiency clinic Royal Stoke Cancer Centre Wednesday 8.30am-12.30pm
Joint respiratory and immunology clinic Royal Stoke outpatients Wednesday 2pm-5

Dr Sarah Goddard
Dr Lavanya Diwakar

Trainee

Sara Elhadari

Nursing and pharmacy staff

Mrs Angela Cooper (Allergy and Asthma Advanced Nurse Practitioner)

Mrs Deborah Hughes (Allergy and Immunology Advanced Nurse Practitioner)

Mrs Ann Ivory (Allergy and Immunology staff nurse)

Mr Daniel Clarke (Specialist pharmacist prescriber)

Clinics are supported by the respiratory physiology team, who carry out skin prick testing and lung function testing.

Education and training

The department is actively involved in the delivery of edu cational sessions for GPs and specialists, medical students and the public.  (https://www.keele.ac.uk/istm/staff/sarahgoddard/ ).

 

Type of Clinic

Location

Day

Times

General Allergy clinic

County Hospital Outpatients

Monday

9am -1pm

​

Royal Stoke Outpatients Clinic 3

Tuesday

9am -1pm

​

Royal Stoke Outpatients Clinic 3

Thursday

9am -1pm

​

Fully virtual clinic

Friday

8.30am-12.30pm

Allergy challenge clinic and immunotherapy clinic

Royal Stoke ward 202

Tuesday

9am -1pm

Severe urticaria clinic

Royal Stoke Outpatients Clinic 3

Thursday

1.30pm -5pm

Allergy phone clinic

 

Friday

9am -1pm

Immunodeficiency clinic

Royal Stoke Cancer Centre

Wednesday

8.30am-12.30pm

The department maintains a secure record of all patients undergoing the following treatments and investigations: allergy challenges, immunotherapy, omalizumab for severe urticaria, immunoglobulin replacement and treatment of hereditary angioedema patients.

We offer patients the opportunity to take part in a number of projects including:

  • The national database for immunodeficiency
  • The NIHR Bioresource Study in Rare diseases
  • Other projects e.g. GATA 2 study in Newcastle
  • COVAD vaccine response study in antibody deficiency patients
  • British Immunotherapy audit

Education and training

The department is actively involved in the delivery of educational sessions for GPs and specialists, medical students and the public.