Nurse led Allergy Clinic in Edinburgh, Scotland

A mixed methods feasibility pilot Nurse-led allergy clinic ran for 4 years between 2016 and 2020 and was hosted by the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian and funded by Allergy UK. This novel clinic was initiated within the SE and SW area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to assess the feasibility of setting up an intermediary service in primary care, look at filling gaps in allergy service provision within Scotland and to measure the acceptability of the service to the patients, their families and health care professionals who used it. The two specialist nurses, supported by local specialists, were required to diagnose, manage, carry out investigations where necessary, prescribe and provide follow-up for patients/parents. Referrals into the clinic were accepted, provided they fulfilled the inclusion criteria from all primary care practitioners within the cluster locality who saw patients with allergies. The clinic started out offering face to face consultations with a phone review, but this was adapted to remote consultation as a result of the Covid pandemic during 2020. Analysis of the quality of life data, indicated there was an improvement in the quality of life scores between baseline and 6-12 week follow-up in three of the four groups, however this should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size of this study.

本项由护士主导的过敏专科门诊可行性混合方法预试验，于2016至2020年间运行四年，由爱丁堡大学（University of Edinburgh）、苏格兰国民保健署洛锡安分部（NHS Lothian）主办，英国过敏协会（Allergy UK）资助。该新型门诊设于苏格兰爱丁堡东南部与西南部区域，旨在评估在初级保健（primary care）体系中搭建过渡性诊疗服务的可行性，填补苏格兰地区过敏专科服务供给的空白，并调研该服务对使用者——患者、家属及医护人员的接受度。两名专科护士在本地专科医师的支持下，需为患者及患儿家长提供诊断、病情管理、必要的检查操作、处方开具及随访服务。凡符合纳入标准的、来自本集群区域内接诊过敏患者的所有初级保健医师的转诊申请，均可被本门诊接收。该门诊最初提供线下面对面问诊与电话随访服务，但受2020年新冠疫情影响，调整为远程问诊模式。对生活质量数据的分析显示，四组受试者中有三组在基线与6-12周随访阶段的生活质量评分均有所提升，但由于本研究样本量较小，对该结果的解读需持谨慎态度。