The Adult Allergy and Clinical Immunology Service at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has become a national Specialised Commissioned Centre.
The Adult Allergy and Clinical Immunology Service is a regional service for Lancashire and South Cumbria, serving a population of 1.6 million people. The service manages adult patients with allergic conditions such as drug allergies, food allergies and patients with primary immune deficiencies.
Allergy is an increasing problem nationwide; with an increasing number of referrals to healthcare services for treatment. Specialist services are not available in every local hospital because they have to be delivered by teams of healthcare professionals who have the necessary skills and experience; so it is a great accolade to have been named as a specialised centre.
There are numerous benefits to becoming a Specialised Commissioned Centre; including:
• Being better able to deliver cutting-edge care and innovation, to support and pioneer clinical practice in the NHS
• Access to high cost drugs and access to new drugs that are being licensed for patient treatment, in the field of allergy and immunodeficiency
• Most importantly, improved quality of care for patients
The service at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals has also become a training centre for immunology doctors and has recently expanded the number of specialist nurses and consultants to support a quicker referral-to-treatment time.
Ariharan Anantharachagan, Consultant Clinical Immunologist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: “We are very proud of this achievement. There are only about 26 Specialised Commissioned Immunology Centres (managing patients with immunodeficiency) and 31 Specialised Commissioned Adult Allergy centres in England. This development is a testament to excellence of our staff, the quality of the service that we provide, and the value that our senior leadership places on our specialist services.”