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Southampton Hospital now offers advanced drug and food allergy testing to patients across the south of England |
The Respiratory Centre at Southampton General Hospital has become the first in the South to offer advanced drug and food allergy testing alongside treatment for complex breathing conditions. The new service provides testing for patients who have had significant allergic reactions to medications such as penicillin or local anaesthetics. The centre originally focused on effectively treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) without admitting patients and caring for them at home in a drive to reduce long hospital stays. But the unit has recently developed a central role within asthma and allergy care, becoming one of the region's only centres to conduct a weekly immunotherapy clinic for patients with a range of allergies and pollen sensitivities. A recently developed asthma outreach service enables all patients with suspected or confirmed asthma to be seen on wards or in the Emergency Department by the asthma specialist nursing team, and specialist therapy for severe asthma. The unit treats patients from Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, West Sussex, parts of Berkshire and the Isle of Wight and is even the first port of call for the Falkland Islands. First published in August 2009 Click here for more research reports
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