Your allergy healthcare team

General practitioners (GP) or family doctors are usually your first contact for healthcare. GPs are doctors who have skills in general medicine. Your GP should play an important role in supporting you to manage your allergy and your ongoing health care. It is important to find a GP you trust and keep seeing them. If you cannot see your usual GP, try to see another GP at the same practice. They will have access to your medical information, and this helps them better understand and manage your needs. GPs are able to diagnose some allergic conditions. They will do things such as:

• Talk with you about your symptoms and when they occur.
• Examine you and look for any signs of allergy. This means they may look at your body, listen to your heart and lungs, look in your ears, nose, eyes and mouth, and look at your skin.
• Review your medical history.
• Order tests if needed.
• Provide allergy-related prescriptions.
• Develop a care or management plan about your allergy, such as an ASCIA Treatment Plan for Allergic Rhinitis or an ASCIA Action Plan for Eczema.
• Renew an ASCIA Action Plan for Anaphylaxis or Allergic Reaction.
• Refer you to other health professionals as needed:
  • A specialist doctor
  • Allied health professional (such as a psychologist or dietitian).
• Work with your specialist in providing follow-up care.
• See you for your day-to-day healthcare issues.
• Support you in telehealth appointments with specialists.

Some GPs have done extra training in allergic conditions and may be able to provide greater support in helping you manage your allergies.

Nurses are registered health professionals. They will do different things to care for people with allergies depending on where they work. For example a GP nurse may have a role in treating someone with allergic rhinitis whereas nurses who work in allergy health services often called allergy nurses, will be more involved in allergy care. Allergy nurses do things such as:

• Do tests such as a skin prick test, oral food challenge or breathing test
• Give treatments and medications
• Provide education, resources and support.

A nurse practitioner (NP) is a registered nurse who has completed extra training and has been endorsed as a nurse practitioner by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). This allows them to do more than other nurses. Nurse practitioners who have expertise in allergy care are able to diagnose some allergic conditions. They will do things such as:

• Talk with you about your symptoms and when they occur.
• Examine you and look for any signs of allergy. This means they may look at your body, listen to your heart and lungs, look in your ears, nose, eyes and mouth and look at your skin.
• Review your medical history.
• Order or do tests and give advice about the results.
• Provide a diagnosis or refer you to a specialist.
• Develop a care or management plan about your allergy.
  • Tell you what to avoid.
  • How to manage your allergic condition/allergic reaction.
  • Complete and sign an ASCIA Action Plan.
• Provide allergy-related prescriptions.
• Refer you to other healthcare professionals as needed:
  • A specialist doctor
  • An allied health professional (such as a psychologist or dietitian).

Some NPs may provide immunotherapy under the guidance of a clinical immunology specialist.

Clinical immunology/allergy specialists are doctors who have done advanced clinical training to diagnose, treat and manage patients with allergies and other immune conditions.

Paediatric clinical immunology/allergy specialists have done advanced clinical training to diagnose, treat and manage allergies and other immune conditions in children.

Allergy specialist is the term used to describe a clinical immunology/allergy specialist on this website.

If you are referred to an allergy specialist, they will do things such as:

• Read the referral and ask you why you are seeing them.
• Review your medical history and any symptoms you have had.
• Examine you to look for signs of allergic conditions. This means they may look at your body, including your skin, listen to your heart and lungs, and look in your ears, nose, eyes and mouth.
• Order or do tests and give advice on results. These might include blood tests or a skin prick test.
• Give you or confirm a diagnosis.
  • Tell you if have an allergic condition.
  • Give you information about your allergy and you what you are allergic to.
• Develop a care or management plan about your allergy.
  • Give you information about what to avoid.
  • Tell you how to manage an allergic reaction.
  • Prescribe allergy medications if needed.
  • Show you how to use your medications.
  • If required, give you an ASCIA Action Plan or an ASCIA Treatment Plan to help you manage your allergic conditions.
• Manage your treatment, follow-up and overall allergy care.
• Talk with, write to or email your GP and other health professionals about your allergy.
• Refer you to other health professionals who can provide different types of support (such as a psychologist or dietitian) when needed.
• Answer any questions you have about your allergy, your treatment and management, and discuss any questions or worries you may have.
• Let you know how often you need to see them.

Paediatricians are doctors who are trained to provide specialist care to babies, children and teenagers up to the age of 19 years old.

If you are referred to a paediatrician, they will do things such as:

• Review your child’s medical history.
• Talk to them and you (their parents) about their symptoms. 
• Examine your child to look for any signs of allergy.
• Decide if your child needs test(s) to understand what is happening and make a diagnosis.
• Decide if your child needs a referral to see another doctor who specialises in diagnosing and treating people with allergies (such as an allergy specialist, dermatologist, gastroenterologist, or ear, nose and throat specialist).
• Coordinate care with other healthcare professionals, such as a psychologist or dietitian, who can provide support if needed.
• Prescribe allergy medications if needed.
• Give your child an ASCIA Action Plan or an ASCIA Treatment Plan (if required) to help manage their allergic condition(s).
• Talk to you and your child about how often your child should see them.

In some cases, paediatricians will work with the child’s allergy specialist to provide follow-up care and management, depending on the child’s allergy.

Some paediatricians have done training in allergic disease. They are not paediatric allergy specialists, but because of their allergy training, they have more allergy knowledge and skills than paediatricians who have not completed allergy training.

Allied health is a term used to describe health professionals who are not doctors, nurses, midwives or dentists. Allied health professionals who may be involved in allergy care are:

Dieticians

Dietitians are accredited health professionals who help people understand food and nutrition. Dietitians can:

• Provide information about food choices to make sure you or your child get the right nutrition from your food.
• Provide education about food allergen labelling and how to read food labels.
• Give you recipe ideas and product information.

Some dietitians have completed training in food allergies and will be better able to support your food allergy needs. These dietitians can:

• Provide information and education about how to avoid the food you or your child are allergic to.
• Provide education about food choices for you or your child’s food allergies.
• Help with nutrition and growth concerns, especially for people with multiple food allergies or for people allergic to common foods such as milk (dairy) and wheat.
• Help with feeding and eating difficulties.
• Advice on breastfeeding and introducing common allergy causing foods, if a parent or other family member has a food allergy.
• Work with your healthcare team to help manage your or your child’s food allergy.

Psychologists

Psychologists are registered health professionals who can assist people to manage their mental health. Psychologists can:

• Help people if they feel worried, scared, angry, alone, helpless or confused.
• Support people with health conditions that affect their everyday life, including their mental health.
• Provide information and support to help you and your family understand and accept your allergy diagnosis, treatment and management.
• Work out what type of support is needed and work with you on a way to get that support.
• Listen to your fears and worries and give you information and ideas to help you feel less worried and less scared.
• Link you with other services that are best able to support your needs. These could be learning and development assessments, group programs, family counselling, exercise and art sessions, or play and other therapies to help you do everyday activities.

Pharmacists are registered health professionals with expert knowledge on medications and how they work.  Pharmacists can:

• Supply prescribed medicines.
• Give advice about how to use medicines.
• Give advice about how to use medical devices such as nasal sprays, asthma puffers and spacers, and adrenaline injectors.
• Give advice on what is in your medicines, including possible allergens.
• Help you find, and give advice on, over-the-counter allergy medicines.
• Supply infant formulas, including specialised formula for allergies.
• Give some vaccinations.
• Prescribe some medicines including some creams for eczema.

Paramedics are trained health professionals who help people in medical emergencies and give urgent care. The job title for paramedics might be different depending on which state you are in. Paramedics may:

• Ask you questions about your health and any allergies to understand what is happening, even if your emergency isn’t directly related to your allergy.
• Give you emergency treatment if needed. For example for a severe allergic reaction (known as anaphylaxis).
• Take you to a hospital if you have a severe allergic reaction or require further care.

If you go to the emergency department of a hospital or are admitted to the hospital for your allergies or for another reason, such as an operation, you will be looked after by the hospital staff.

Some staff may be directly involved in your care, such as:

• Doctors
• Nurses
• Physiotherapists
• Dietitians
• Assistants in nursing.

Other staff are not involved in your care but support your stay in hospital, such as:

• Administration staff
• Cleaners
• Porters
• Food service staff. 

Which hospital staff look after you depends on why you are going to hospital. You may or may not see health professionals who specialise in allergies.  For example, if you go to the emergency department, the emergency team will look after you and may also involve other specialist teams. If you are admitted to hospital or are visiting as a day patient, the specialist team or clinic staff will look after you. 

It is important that you tell hospital staff about your allergies, including medication, latex and food allergies.

Hospital staff should:

• Involve you in your care and talk with you about how your allergies will be managed while you are in hospital.
• Follow guidelines to lower the risk of an allergic reaction.
• Follow medical standards to treat allergic reactions.
• Communicate with other health professionals involved in your care.

They may also provide either you or your GP with a summary of your care

Specialists are experts in the area of medicine that they work in. Other specialists who care for people with allergies include:

• Dermatologists who care for people living with skin conditions, such as eczema.
• Respiratory specialists who care for people with conditions affecting their breathing and airways (such as asthma or allergic rhinitis).
• Gastroenterologists who care for people with conditions affecting their digestive system (such as non-IgE allergies or eosinophilic oesophagitis).
• Ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists who care for people with conditions affecting their ears, nose or throat (such as tonsilitis, breathing difficulties during sleep, allergic rhinitis or chronic sinusitis).

These specialists may be part of a team of specialists looking after people with allergies.

A multidisciplinary team (MDT) is a group of health professionals who work together to care for you and to help you manage your allergic conditions. Team members may meet to discuss your care and plan your treatment and may be from different specialty areas.

A multidisciplinary team may include:

• Specialists
• Junior doctors
• Nurses
• Nurse practitioners
• Allied health professionals (dietitian, psychologist).