Dr Donald Hodge

Dr Hodge’s NHS work is entirely in the field of paediatric allergy. He is the lead for paediatric allergy in Leeds and runs a very busy NHS practise which provides all the paediatric allergy secondary care for Leeds and additionally provides a tertiary service for Yorkshire.

At present Dr Hodge personally sees in excess of 2000 patients with allergic disease per year. This includes over 1000 new patients per year, the majority of which are for food allergy (common foods including dairy, egg, fish, wheat, soya, peanut, tree nuts and sesame), allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (hayfever – grass pollen, tree pollen, house dust mite) and idiopathic urticarial.

As many of his patients are atopic, Dr Hodge also has significant experience in the management of eczema and asthma.

A typical food allergy consultation would involve:

• Allergy focussed history to explore food(s) of concern and a global review of the rest of the diet with respect to other potential allergenic foods.
• Review of other atopic conditions (asthma, eczema, hay fever).
• Allergy testing – most commonly this will be done in clinic using skin prick testing. On occasion, allergy blood tests will be required.
• Once allergies have been diagnosed, appropriate dietary advice is given. Dr Hodge has access to a specialist paediatric allergy dietician.
• Allergy management plan – a detailed document outlining the emergency medical management in the event of future accidental allergic reactions. All plans are shared with parents /general practitioners / nurseries / schools.
• Training in adrenaline autoinjectors (if prescribed)

A typical allergic rhinoconjunctivitis consultation would involve:

• Allergy focused history to explore potential aeroallergans.
• Review of other atopic conditions (asthma, eczema, food allergy).
• Allergy testing – most commonly this will be done in clinic using skin prick testing. On occasion, allergy blood tests will be required.
• Optimisation of medical treatment.
• Training in nasal spray technique (if prescribed)

General paediatric problems

One of the benefits of seeing in excess of 2000 children per year with allergies is that Dr Hodge is continually exposed to (and manages) many common general paediatric medical problems. These include:

• Constipation
• Weight issues
• Recurrent infections 
• Heart murmurs
• Diarrhoea
• Abdominal pain
• Colic
• Reflux
• Urinary infections