How the directory works

What we list

The directory lists services in Ireland and Northern Ireland that people look for when they have hay fever or allergies: allergy clinics, hospital departments, GPs, pharmacies, online services, support organisations and complementary therapies.

Most listings were put together from information the business publishes itself, such as its website. Being listed is free, and a business does not need to do anything to appear.

We list, we don't recommend

A listing tells you a service exists and how to contact it. It is not a recommendation. We do not check qualifications, inspect premises or judge the quality of care. If you are unsure, ask the service about its qualifications and registration, or talk to your GP or pharmacist.

Medical services and complementary therapies

Every listing has one of three labels.

• Medical: doctors, hospital departments, GP practices, pharmacies, registered dietitians, and allergy tests that measure IgE, the antibody involved in allergies.
• Complementary: salt rooms, acupuncture, naturopathy, homeopathy, herbal medicine, kinesiology, nutritional therapy and similar. This also includes food intolerance or sensitivity tests (for example IgG, hair or bioresonance tests), which are not recommended for diagnosing allergies.
• Information: charities, patient groups and professional bodies.

Complementary therapies are always shown in their own section, below medical services, with a note that they are not medical treatment. A business can ask us to review its label, but we decide it based on the services it offers.

The order of listings

On county and category pages, listings whose owner has claimed them and checked their details come first. After that, listings are in alphabetical order. Nobody can pay to appear higher today. If we ever offer paid placement, it will be clearly labelled as paid, and it will never be offered for complementary therapies.

What descriptions can and can't say

Descriptions should say plainly who the service helps and what it offers. They must not:

• claim to cure or heal allergies or hay fever, or promise results
• use words like "guaranteed", "instant", "100%", "proven" or "best in Ireland"
• promote prescription medicines
• include prices, web addresses, email addresses or phone numbers in the text
• include anyone's health details or testimonials about a person's treatment

These rules follow the Advertising Standards Authority's code and the Health Products Regulatory Authority's rules on advertising medicines. We check every change automatically, and we may shorten or rewrite a description that breaks them.

Keeping listings up to date

We check every listing's website and phone number regularly. If a website stops working or a phone number looks wrong, we fix or remove the listing. If you spot a mistake, tell us.

For businesses: claiming your listing

If you run a listed service, you can claim your listing for free. We send a code to the email address on the listing. Once you're in, you can update your details and see how many people tapped through to call you or visit your website. The listing terms apply.

Asking for a listing to be changed or removed

Any business or practitioner can ask us to correct their listing or take it down, whether or not they have claimed it. Send us a message from an email address connected to the business, and we will act on it within five working days.

Some listings include the name of a practitioner. We show these because the practitioner publishes them to find patients. If you'd rather your name wasn't shown, ask and we'll remove it.

Messages sent through listings

When someone uses "Send a message" on a listing, we email it to the business and keep a copy in case it goes missing. We keep these copies for 12 months and then delete them. We ask people not to include medical details.

Questions

Contact us with any question about the directory.