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Immunology and allergy
Outpatients
Information about outpatient clinics for the assessment and management of allergic and immunologic diseases.
The Department will periodically contact patients waiting for an outpatient clinic appointment via SMS, with a link to an electronic form. This is part of routine waitlist auditing to ensure patient details are up to date. If you receive this SMS, please update your details.
Availability
North
South based clinic.
North West
South based clinic.
Emergency conditions
The following conditions are medical emergencies and require immediate transfer to the Royal Hobart Hospital emergency department:
- Anaphylaxis
- Angioedema with threat to the airway
- Acute severe asthma
Emergency care
If you, or someone else, are experiencing a serious and life-threatening injury or illness call triple zero (000) immediately or go to the nearest Emergency Department.
Learn more about when to access emergency care and non-emergency care options if the injury or illness is not serious or life-threatening.
Scope
Clinical Immunologists deal with conditions in three main areas:
- Allergy - immunological reaction against harmless substances
- Immunodeficiency - increase in the frequency or severity of infections
- Autoimmunity/autoinflammatory - immunological reaction against the self
This service incorporates the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) Jack Jumper Allergy Clinic and RHH Supervised COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic. It is distinct from the RHH Paediatric Allergy Clinic, the Tasmanian Specialist Immunisation and Allergy Clinic, and the Specialist Paediatric Immunisation Service.
We provide outpatient clinical services as well as consultation to hospital inpatients and day-patient admissions for procedures.
Out of hours on-call and inpatient admissions are currently outside of the scope of this service.
Our services/procedures
- Clinical consultation
- Skin prick testing for allergy diagnosis
- Immunotherapy/Desensitisation for allergy treatment
- Challenge testing for diagnosis of food or drug allergy
- Assessment and management (including supervised immunisation) of suspected vaccine allergy.
Services we provide/clinical conditions appropriate for referral
- Anaphylaxis to drugs, insects, foods and unknown cause
- Urticaria and angioedema
- Hereditary angioedema
- Drug allergy
- Allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis
- Non-allergic rhinitis
- Allergic and non-allergic sinusitis, nasal polyposis
- Asthma, allergic and non-allergic
- Venom and aeroallergen immunotherapy
- Food allergy
- Severe eczema
- Eosinophilic oesophagitis and other eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease
- Mast cell disorders
- Systemic autoinflammatory diseases / Periodic fever syndromes
- Immunodeficiency, hereditary and acquired (not HIV).
- Irritable bowel syndrome/suspected food intolerance (except on referral or recommendation from gastroenterologist)
- Large local reactions to insect stings
- Chronic fatigue syndrome/multiple chemical sensitivity/fibromyalgia/post COVID-19 syndrome
- Contact dermatitis/patch testing for contact allergens (refer to dermatology)
- Acute or chronic urticaria which has remitted (unless allergic cause suspected)
- Children under 18 years (unless for insect allergy)
Referral process
Referrals need sufficient information to allow triage and act as a clinical handover and must conform to the referral standards. eReferral is now the preferred method of referral for this service and is available in All regions. Please refer via HealthLink SmartForm eReferral through your software system (either Best Practice, or Medical Director). For instructions, see the creating an eReferral quick guide.
Referrals are registered by the clinic to which they are referred and are triaged according to the specific clinic guidelines.
| Condition | Likely Triage Category | Information required to determine urgency/Prerequisite information |
|---|---|---|
| Anaphylaxis |
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| Food allergy |
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| Rhinitis/Sinusitis |
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| Asthma |
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| Immunodeficiency |
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| Drug/Vaccine/Contrast Allergy |
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| Chronic Urticaria |
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| Angioedema |
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Periodic fever/ Autoinflammatory syndrome |
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| Mast cell disorder |
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| Severe eczema (as part of multidisciplinary investigation and management) |
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Appointments are based on clinical priority.
Where available, eReferral via HealthLink smart forms is now the preferred and only secure method of referral to the Tasmanian Department of Health.
Clinic appointments
Urgent (Category 1)
We will endeavour to see these patients within 4 weeks.
Urgent referrals should be accompanied by a phone call to the Consultant/Registrar or Clinic Nurse to organise urgent review.
Semi-urgent (Category 2)
We will endeavour to see these patients within 12 weeks.
Routine / category 3
Next available appointment.
