Immune haematology
Visitor Information
Translation help:
To translate this page into your preferred language, click the Google Translate icon in the top-right menu and select your desired language.
Our immune haematology service is led by a specialist multidisciplinary team which cares for patients with a wide range of immune haematology conditions. Hammersmith Hospital is an immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) centre led by Dr Nichola Cooper, providing both adult care at Hammersmith Hospital and paediatric care at St Mary’s Hospital. The service is part of the UK ITP Forum and works closely with the UK ITP Patient Support Association.
We provide a wide range of services for our patients, including day care treatment, inpatient wards, outpatient clinics, clinical nurse specialist support, and pregnancy care (provided jointly with the maternity services at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital). We provide care for approximately 250 adults with ITP and 30 children with ITP, as well as patients with more rare immune haematological disorders including thrombotic thrombocytopenia (TTP), autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) and haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH).
Conditions we treat
- Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP)
- Thrombotic thrombocytopenia (TTP)
- Aplastic anaemia
- Haemolytic anaemias, including paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria
- Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis
Clinics
Our specialist outpatient clinic for adults is provided at Hammersmith Hospital on Monday afternoons. There is a paediatric clinic at St Mary’s Hospital on Thursday afternoons. We also have a specialist service at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea to manage patients with ITP through pregnancy.
ITP clinic at Hammersmith Hospital
Address
Ground floor
Catherine Lewis Centre
Hammersmith Hospital
Du Cane Road
London W12 0HS
Hours
Monday afternoons
Contact information
Phone: 020 3313 3297
Obstetric haematology clinic at Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital
Address
Centre for Fetal Care
Second floor
Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital
Du Cane Road
London W12 0HS
Hours
Friday mornings
Contact information
Phone: 020 3313 1508
Paediatric immune haematology clinic at St Mary’s Hospital
Address
Paediatric haematology day care
Sixth floor
Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother (QEQM) building
St Mary’s Hospital
Praed Street
London W2 1NY
Hours
Thursday afternoons
Contact information
Phone: 020 3312 6157
Meet the team
Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) centre director
Consultant haematologists
Dr Simona Deplano
Professor Mark Layton
Dr Asad Luqmani
Dr Carolyn Millar
Nurse specialists
Deena Paul, adult immune haematology
Ana Cabrera, paediatric haematology
Clinical trials coordinator
Camelia Vladescu
Patient information
Before your appointment
You will receive a letter before your appointment based on clinic availability and the severity of your condition. You are welcome to bring a relative, close friend or carer with you to your appointment. You are also welcome to ask for a chaperone and we will endeavour to provide one for you.
Please remember to check your appointment letter for anything specific you have been asked to bring. In addition, it would be helpful if you could bring the following:
- Your full address and telephone number(s)
- Your appointment card and appointment letter
- Your GP’s name and address
- Money to pay for any prescriptions, or an exemption card and for parking
- All medications or a list of medications you are currently taking
- A list of questions you may want to ask your consultant
During your appointment
When you arrive at the clinic specified in your appointment letter, please report to the administrator to check in. They will ask to see your appointment letter and check that your contact details are correct.
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.
Your first appointment will take about 45 minutes. You should expect to wait about one hour before being seen by a clinician, though you may meet other members of the multidisciplinary team while you wait.
At your first appointment a detailed history and examination will be carried out by one of our doctors. You will then be sent for blood tests and other investigations considered necessary. Your doctor will tell you what they suspect the issue may be, and what the tests are aiming to establish.
After you see the consultant, go to reception to schedule any follow-up appointments you may require.
After your appointment
After your first appointment, you are likely to have a follow-up appointment to review the results of your tests and identify the best treatment for you, if treatment is required. For certain conditions the follow-up appointment will be in one of our specialist clinics. Follow-up appointments take about 15 minutes, but you will be asked to arrive about 30 minutes early to have a blood test.
The time taken for a result to be issued varies greatly, depending on the type of test. The results of most routine blood tests are available within 48 hours; however some others such as genetic tests take longer. We may need to refer more specialised tests to other laboratories. Many results, including most blood tests, will be available within seven days.
Results of tests are sent to the GP or consultant who made the referral. Laboratories can only provide results to a healthcare professional involved in your treatment and cannot give results directly to you or a family member. If you need to know the result or have a query, please contact your GP or the hospital team directly. You will usually be informed of the results of your tests at the next clinic appointment but any urgent results may be communicated sooner by telephone. If you require a follow-up appointment you should receive this on the same day of your attendance, at reception. If your appointment finishes after 17.00, then your clinic outcome form will be managed on the following day and a clinic appointment will be sent to you.
Patient passport
Our patients will be given patient passports. This enables you to be brought to Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust hospitals in emergency situations. If you require urgent clinical advice about your condition, please refer to the relevant phone number in your passport.
Disabled access
All our clinical areas are disabled access enhanced, however if you have any concerns, please call haematology main reception on 020 3313 3297. There are a limited number of disabled parking spaces at Hammersmith Hospital on Du Cane Road.
Parking
There is limited number of onsite parking available at Hammersmith and St Mary’s hospitals. Wherever possible, we recommend you use public transport when attending hospital.
Refer to this service
GP
Please use NHS e-Referrals to refer a patient to our immune haematology service. Please provide information as to which investigations have already been carried out and include results of these if possible.
GP advice
Phone: 020 3313 1000
Bleep: 9071 for the on call haematology specialist registrar
Email: HAEMATOLOGYADVICE.IMPERIAL@NHS.NET
Secondary and tertiary care
Referrals for non-malignant haematological disorders should be made in writing to the relevant consultant at Hammersmith Hospital. Please provide information as to which investigations have already been carried out and include results of these if possible.
Second floor
Catherine Lewis Centre
Hammersmith Hospital
Du Cane Road
London W12 0HS
Phone: 020 3313 8117
Urgent referrals
Other specialist referrals should be made via NHS e-Referrals to the appropriate consultant.
Medical secretaries:
Phone: 020 3313 8117
Additional information
Clinical trials and research
We have an active research programme in immune thrombocytopenia, autoimmune haemolytic anaemia and other non-malignant blood disorders and invite patients to participate in national and international disease registries. A member of our team may inform you about any clinical trials or other research studies relevant to your condition which you can find out more about on a completely voluntary basis. Current clinical trials include:
- Study to Evaluate Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of UCB7665 in Subjects With Primary Immune Thrombocytopenia
- Newly Diagnosed Immune Thrombocytopenia Testing the Standard Steroid Treatment Against Combined Steroid & Mycophenolate (FLIGHT)
- A Study of PRN1008 in Adult Patients With Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP)
- A Study to Assess the Ability of Eltrombopag to Induce Sustained Remission in Subjects With ITP (TAPER)
- Imperial College Healthcare Tissue Bank
Further online resources
- NHS Choices: blood transfusion
- Lab tests online: understanding your lab tests
- UK ITP Forum
- UK ITP Patient Support Association
- Imperial College Healthcare tissue bank
Learn more
Would you recommend our services to your friends and family? Let us know by completing our friends and family test. Your comments will help us to make changes and take immediate action when there’s a problem.