Children’s immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and platelet disorders centre

About

Our centre specialises in the care of children with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and other platelet disorders. The service aims to provide timely assessment of all children who are suspected to have such disorders and to provide expert medical and nursing care.

We are a UK paediatric ITP clinical centre providing clinical services to local patients and also nationally. We provide a comprehensive service for the medical management of children with including a dedicated teenage and young adult transition service. We provide 3 monthly virtual MDT meetings with all our shared care hospitals and other ITP clinical centres.

The service is led by Dr Nichola Cooper.

 

Conditions and treatments

Our service primarily looks after patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) a condition where the immune system attacks platelets and causes a low platelet count. We also see patients with other platelet disorders. The centre is embedded within the wider paediatric haematology and bone marrow transplant (BMT) service at St Mary's Hospital, which also specialises in the management of children with haemoglobinopathies and red cell disorders, stem cell transplantation, bone marrow failure syndromes and Level 2 Shared Care for children with malignancies.

Our children’s haematology clinics benefit from the support of a clinical nurse specialist and the paediatric haematology service as a whole, including a dedicated haematology day care unit and inpatient facilities if required. Children with other general haematological problems may also be investigated in the clinic.

Patients with ITP may require treatment with a short course of steroids or intravenous (into the vein – IV) immunoglobulin if they have significant bleeding symptoms, but these are not usually required for patients coming to routine clinic appointments.

For adolescent transition of children with ITP there is a clinic every three months in conjunction with Dr Nichola Cooper, Adult and Paediatric ITP specialist nurses, with additional multidisciplinary team input as required. Our service sees in excess of 80 children with ITP yearly.

Children who are diagnosed with disorders such as ITP may require urgent treatment for bleeding, and this is supported by our children's accident and emergency (A&E) department, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and also by access to the paediatric haematology day care and inpatient facilities, with 24-hour paediatric haematology consultant cover.

Further online resources

• ITP support association

Clinics

Our clinic is held once a week in the children’s outpatients department at St Mary’s Hospital.

Address

Paediatric Haematology Day Unit
Sixth floor
Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother (QEQM) building
St Mary’s Hospital
Praed Street
London W2 1NY

Hours

Thursdays from 13.30 to 16.30

Contact information

Clinical nurse specialist Ana Cabrera
Phone: 07584182122

Dr Cooper's secretary
Tel: 020 3312 6157

Meet the team

Our children’s immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and platelet disorders centre is managed by a team of consultants and clinical nurse specialists.

Clinical lead

Dr Nichola Cooper, haematology consultant

Consultants

Dr Josu de la Fuente, consultant in paediatric haematology
Dr Leena Karnik, consultant in paediatric haematology
Dr Kirsten Lund, consultant in paediatric haematology
Dr Toni Petterson, consultant in paediatric Haematology
Dr Adam Gassas, consultant in paediatric haematology

Clinical nurse specialist

Ana Cabrera, clinical nurse specialist for paediatric haematology

Patient information

Find out what to expect when you come to hospital for your child's immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and platelet disorders appointment

Patient information

Before your child’s appointment

Your child is likely to have been referred to this service by your GP or by a hospital doctor who has identified an excessive level of bleeding such as following an operation or dental extraction, or following a thrombosis which may have occurred during an admission to hospital. Your child will usually be seen in clinic within two to eight weeks of the referral being received. Depending on the urgency of the situation an earlier visit will be arranged if required. 

You should attend all appointments with your child if they are under the age of 16, and you are welcome to bring another family member or a carer with you as well.

You may be contacted by one of our clinical nurse specialists to arrange blood tests prior to the appointment. Please bring a list of any medications including dosages. If it is your child’s first appointment and you have records of prior blood tests taken elsewhere it is helpful to bring them along.

During your child’s appointment

Please note that we are a teaching hospital, so medical students may be present for some appointments. If you do not wish to have them in the room please let the nurse or doctor know and the students will be asked to step outside.

All appointments are held in Dr Cooper’s clinic in the children’s haematology day unit on the sixth floor of the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother (QEQM) building at St Mary’s Hospital. Waiting times are usually about 30 minutes, and you can expect your child’s appointment to take approximately 30 minutes. 

 At your first appointment your child will be seen by Dr Cooper or one of her colleagues who will take a detailed history of your child’s symptoms and, together with the clinical nurse specialist, coordinate the necessary investigations to establish a diagnosis as soon as possible. Investigations are likely to include blood tests on one or more occasions, and other investigations such as scans if necessary.

After your child’s appointment

Depending on the outcome of the investigations Dr Cooper will advise on further management. For example, those children diagnosed with inherited bleeding disorders will be referred to a paediatric haemophilia centre and those diagnosed with disorders such as immune thrombocytopenia will be followed up at St Mary’s or more locally if appropriate.

Patient facilities and resources

A play specialist may be available to help with blood tests if needed.

Referrals

Find out how to refer patients to our children's Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) and platelet disorders centre

GP and secondary care referrals

Please use NHS e-Referrals to refer a patient to our children's immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and platelet disorders centre.

GP advice

GPs may call Dr Cooper's secretary for advice about referrals on 020 3312 6164.