Red blood cell disorder

Locations

Visitor Information

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Visiting

Our red blood cell disorder service is led by a specialist multidisciplinary team which cares for patients with haemoglobinopathies (sickle cell and thalassaemia), less common red cell disorders and other non-malignant blood disorders. We are one of the leading specialist centres for non-malignant haematology with nationally renowned expertise in the investigation and management of red cell disorders.

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 Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital). There is access to a dedicated clinical psychologist and social worker. We provide care for approximately 350 adult patients with sickle cell disorders and work closely with other teams including paediatric haematology and our partners in the community. We offer a day care pain management service for sickle cell patients at Hammersmith Hospital and a telephone support line to help our patients manage their conditions independently where possible.

Conditions we treat

  • Sickle cell disease
  • Thalassaemia anaemia
  • Purpura neutropenia
  • Haemochromatosis
  • Iron transport defects
  • Other non-malignant blood disorders

Treatments we offer

  • Blood transfusion
  • Automated exchange transfusion
  • Plasma exchange
  • Day care pain management (for sickle cell disease)
  • Iron chelation
  • Venesection intravenous

Clinics

Our specialist outpatient clinics are provided mainly at Hammersmith Hospital with a satellite clinic at St Mary’s Hospital. There is a dedicated clinic for young people to assist the transition from children’s to adult services.

Obstetric haematology clinic at Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital

Address

Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital
Du Cane Road
London W12 0HS

Hours

Monday mornings (alternate weeks)

 

Sickle cell/red cell clinic at Hammersmith Hospital

Address

Ground Floor
The Catherine Lewis Centre
Hammersmith Hospital
Du Cane Road
London W12 0HS

Hours

Thursday afternoons

 

PNH clinic (provided jointly with National PNH Service) at Hammersmith Hospital

Address

Ground Floor
The Catherine Lewis Centre
Hammersmith Hospital
Du Cane Road
London W12 0HS

Hours

Thursday afternoons (every three months)

 

Sickle cell/red cell clinic at St Mary's Hospital 

Address

Outpatients Department
St Mary’s Hospital
Praed Street
London W2 1NY

Hours

Friday mornings

Meet the team

Consultant haematologists

Dr Mark Layton
Dr Simona Deplano 
Dr Nina Salooja 
Dr Nichola Cooper 
Dr Asad Luqmani
Dr Fateha Chowdhury
Dr Lambros Bourantas, locum

Associate specialists 

Dr Marco Bua 
Dr Nadia Boutros 

Nurse specialist

Deena Paul 
Jasmine Joseph
Judith St Claire

Clinical trials coordinator

Camelia Vladescu

Social worker

Mr Jeremy Holloway

Community support nurse

Elizabeth Erikodi

Clinical psychologist

Dr Jeremy Anderson 

Apheresis nurse

Sinju Thomas

Ward manager

Evelyn Gomez 

Patient information

Before your appointment

You will receive a letter before your appointment within seven days of your referral being received by the hospital. 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 will likely 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 hospital consultant 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.

Patient passport

Some of our patients are issued access card ‘passports’ for our service. If you require urgent advice about your condition, please refer to the relevant phone number in your passport.

Patient information leaflet

Refer to this service

GP

Please use NHS e-Referrals to refer a patient to our red blood cell disorder service. Please provide information as to which investigations have already been carried out and include results of these if possible.

Secondary/tertiary care

Referrals for non-malignant haematological disorders should be made in writing to the relevant consultant at Hammersmith Hospital.

Address

Second Floor
The Catherine Lewis Centre
Hammersmith Hospital
Du Cane Road
London W12 0HS

GP advice

Telephone: 020 3313 1000
Bleep: 9071
Email: haematologyadvice.imperial@nhs.net

Additional information

Clinical trials and research

We have an active research programme in sickle cell disease 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 involve treatments for sickle cell disease, iron overload and pyruvate kinase deficiency.

Education

If you are interested in an elective placement with our service, please contact IMPERIAL.ELECTIVES@NHS.NET.

Further online resources