Clinical Immunology

Clinical Immunology at Fiona Stanley Hospital provides a comprehensive service for adults and children with immune disorders including allergy, autoimmune diseases and immunodeficiency. Conditions seen by the department include:

  • allergy and related disorders such as:
    • food allergy and anaphylaxis
    • anaphylaxis due to insect stings/bites
    • respiratory allergic disease including allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and sinusitis, with or without asthma
    • atopic dermatitis (eczema), in conjunction with the Dermatology department
    • chronic urticaria (hives)
    • drug allergy
  • autoimmune and related diseases such as:
    • systemic autoimmune disease, for example lupus, Sjogren syndrome, scleroderma
    • autoinflammatory disorders
    • vasculitis
    • myositis
    • neuro-immune disorders
    • adverse effects from immune-based therapies
    • primary and secondary / acquired immune deficiency, including complications from immune suppressive treatment and HIV infection.

Many patients with allergy and other immune diseases can be managed appropriately by their general practitioner in a real-time consultation via the Virtual Immunology Clinic for General Practice (VIC-GP) without needing a face-to-face appointment. Read more about this clinic below.

Adult and paediatric general immunology clinics are complemented by an online Virtual Immunology Clinic (VIC) and subspecialty clinics for:

  • anaphylaxis
  • drug hypersensitivity
  • neuroimmunology (in collaboration with the Neurology department)
  • infection and immunity (including HIV medicine, in collaboration with the Infectious Diseases Service).

The department also supports:

  • a paediatric allergy clinic and planned admissions to the paediatric ward
  • an inpatient service for emergency and elective admissions under the care of an immunology consultant where appropriate
  • inpatient consultations for patients admitted under other specialty teams
  • and an after-hours on-call service for urgent clinical and laboratory issues.

In addition to these clinical services, a near-comprehensive immunopathology, immunogenetics and HIV virology laboratory service is provided on site by PathWest FSH Immunology.

The department also supports an outreach adult immunology clinic at Rockingham General Hospital (external site).

The Immunology Department is actively involved in teaching and research, including clinical trials for allergic and other immune disorders.

Virtual Immunology Clinic

Chronic immunological conditions often require lifelong care coordination between hospital-based specialists and general practitioners (GPs).

Appropriate patients referred via the Central Referral System may be offered an initial phone consultation with an immunology consultant through our Virtual Immunology Clinic. Initial assessment, investigation and management is provided and a follow-up appointment arranged for three weeks later.

Virtual Immunology Clinic – General Practice

The Virtual Immunology Clinic – GP (VIC-GP) bypasses the standard referral pathway and associated wait times and enables general practitioners to refer patients to an immunologist in real time via an online portal.  The clinic operates from 9:00am – 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.

Via a secure telehealth consultation, an immunology specialist will discuss appropriate management advice with the patient and their GP in real time. This allows review and an ongoing management plan to be formulated by the consultant and GP in the presence of the patient and supports the GP to manage their patient’s care.

Demonstrated benefits include:

  • reduced consultation wait times
  • patients achieve the same clinical outcomes as via the standard referral pathway
  • patients gain a greater understanding of their condition by having their general practitioner participate in their consultation
  • virtual consultations are less disruptive to a patient’s daily routine
  • the consultations facilitate joint care planning and general practitioner upskilling.

Read how to register a patient for the Virtual Immunology Clinic.

Read how to refer a patient through the:

  • standard referral pathway
  • Virtual Immunology Clinic for General Practice referral pathway.

Refer a patient

If you have been referred to Fiona Stanley Hospital for eczema, the information and advice provided in this brief video may help manage your eczema without needing to wait for a specialist appointment

Contact us

Call our Fiona Stanley Hospital Helpdesk on 6152 2222 for all queries.

Location

Outpatient Clinic 6, Ground Floor, Fiona Stanley Hospital – see the Fiona Stanley Hospital map (PDF 1MB)

Opening hours

On-site consultant immunologist: 8:00am to 6:00pm, Monday to Friday.

After hours on-call service (24 hours, 7 days) – phone the Fiona Stanley Hospital Helpdesk on 6152 2222.

 

Last Updated: 06/10/2023