Got an allergy? There's an app for that!

In collaboration with Plymouth University and with the support from local GPs, the Peninsula Allergy Service at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust has developed a unique app tool and website to help diagnose allergy symptoms and improve services for patients with allergy symptoms.

One in three people in the UK have an allergy and the National Allergy Strategy Group recently recommended improving awareness of allergy among those working in General Practice.

This exciting new tool, Adult Allergy Pathways (Peninsula) will be available to all GP surgeries in Devon and Cornwall through the new Peninsula Allergy Service website, as well as through a specialist clinical website called the Map of Medicine.

The Map of Medicine is a national programme with best practice guidelines, information and local advice for GPs and clinicians which aims to help them to work with their patients to manage their condition.

Professor Edward Kaminski, Consultant Immunologist, with the Peninsula Allergy Service at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We would expect around 300,000 adults in Devon and Cornwall to have an allergy at some time in their life. For many of these people their priority is to find a way to manage their allergy so it interferes as little as possible with their life. So being able to manage their condition with the help of their GP is a real plus, it means less appointments and more care locally.”

Professor Ray Jones, Professor of Health Informatics at Plymouth University, said: “We have been collaborating with Professor Kaminski's team and both Plymouth and Devon PCTs to develop a new app on the Map of Medicine and a new website. These mean that GP colleagues can get the information and advice they need to work with their patients to manage their condition at home. The website also means that patients have a useful online information source and can share their experiences, advice and tips with fellow adults living with allergy.”

The project team includes Professor Edward Kaminski, with support from Dr Claire Bethune, Consultant Immunologist from the Peninsula Allergy Service, Derriford Hospital; Dr Dafydd Jones, General Practitioner, Ernesettle Surgery, Plymouth, Dr Richard Benjafield, General Practitioner, Hyde Park Surgery, Plymouth; Kevin Bishop and Roland Gude from NHS Plymouth and Professor Ray Jones, Plymouth University, following past research into referral rates from GPs to allergy services, Emily Ashurst and Anita O’Connor, Research Assistant from Plymouth University.

Provided by University of Plymouth