Trial of a centralized IgE allergy service to general practitioners in a rural area.

We describe a pilot study of a community IgE service which serves a large rural area and is centred on the biochemistry laboratory and allergy clinic of a district general hospital. The service has proved useful because in many cases it has made attendance at an outpatient department unnecessary. The results appear to be reliable and have provided the general practitioners with additional knowledge of their patients. Other benefits included the investigation of larger numbers of patients, the performance of fewer skin tests and greater precision in test results because the tests were carried out by one investigator under standard conditions.