We run one of the largest services in the UK for the diagnosis and treatment of haemoglobin conditions (haemoglobinopathies) such as sickle cell disease and thalassaemia syndromes. We are a specialist haemoglobinopathy Unit. The service is offered to people who live in Enfield and Harringay.
We work in close partnership with North Middlesex Hospital and UCLH and the service will deliver a robust community service within the NCL Boroughs: Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, and Islington.
Types of Clinics:
The Annual Review appointment is approximately 30 minutes. Your doctor will review all major systems and possible complications related to your diagnosis during this visit and discuss if further investigations and/or referrals are recommended.
Routine Follow-up appointments are scheduled for 15 minutes, this clinic is when the doctor is investigation a problem or to discuss outcomes of an investigation.
Haemoglobinopathy Regular prescriptions (including analgesia) (Information for General Practitioners.) GPs
We normally write to patient GP with regards to regular medication, therefore you should always ask your GP for all your repeat prescriptions.
We advise all sickle cell patients to take Penicillin V and folic acid and we would be grateful if this is on their repeat prescription. It is also likely to be of benefit for them to be on vitamin D.
We advise that patients have analgesia at home to manage painful crises. This is usually paracetamol, ibuprofen and a weak opioid such as codeine or dihydrocodeine. Some patients have stronger opioids such as Oramorph and Oxynorm; we will indicate this in our letter to you, but if you are unsure who is prescribing it, please let the team know.
Haemoglobinopathy vaccination schedule
The normal childhood vaccination schedule should be given to all children with a haemoglobinopathy, and we would advise that patients who have entered the country and missed these vaccinations should be offered them. In addition, sickle and thalassaemia patients should be vaccinated with:
Sickle cell patients and patients who have had their spleens removed should also have:
Refer a patient: GPs can refer at any time through our shared mailbox. northmid.haem@nhs.net
How to cancel or rearrange an appointment by location: Please contact our Pathway co-ordinators:
Roberto Camacho
Sithembile Mukiza
Debbie Elliot : 0208 887 2584 | northmid.haem@nhs.net
Attending our Haematology Day Clinic
Most of our patients attend the Haematology Day clinic regularly, often on a monthly basis or even more. Taking blood and/or placing a cannula can be challenging in patients with a red cell disorder. We would like to make sure that all our patients are looked after by our own highly skilled nurses and that our nurses can take their time if required to perform a difficult procedure. The day clinic run by our highly skilled nurses who are supported by our Consultant nurse , Advanced nurse practitioners and junior doctors .
We provide:
What we would like to ask from you:
In order to deliver the care as smoothly as possible, we would like to kindly ask that you:
For Automated Blood Exchanges Only Please note that:
Exchange red cell transfusions often involve using 6 to 10 units of blood. People with a red cell disorder often have specific blood group requirements. It is not uncommon that for a particular patient, several blood donors have to be identified and be asked to donate in order to guarantee that the right blood is available on the day of transfusion. Blood is not an unlimited resource and has a limited shelf life.
If you cancel your blood transfusion less than 24 hours beforehand, or if you do not attend a scheduled appointment without giving notice, these valuable products will already have been delivered and as such wasted. Not only is this very expensive, but also very ungrateful towards the blood donors who have dedicated themselves to help other people with rare blood disorders.
Please do always attend your blood transfusion appointments and do not cancel less than 24 hours beforehand.
What to do if you are acutely unwell
In an emergency, please attend the emergency department. If you are presenting with a painful crisis, the A&E team will have access to your pain care plan, and we aim to deliver adequate pain relief within 30 minutes.
If you need to be admitted, you will be seen by the Haematology team Monday to Friday and out of hours you will be seen by our general medical team and transferred to the acute medical unit which is T4 if a bed is available. The haematology team will see you the next morning, but we are on-call, and the medical team can liaise with us 24 hours of the day, seven days of the week. Transfer to the Haematology Day unit maybe offered based on case by case basis for the management to moderate pain.
Being admitted to hospital
Our haematology base ward is Tower 4 (T4) Ward, but if there are no beds on that ward, we will see you wherever you are in the hospital. The haematology consultants will see all the new admitted patients who have come in the night before and will do twice weekly ward rounds of all inpatients. The haematology specialist registrar or senior house officer Consultant Nurse and advanced nurse will see patients daily.
Contact Our Advanced Nurse Practitioners On:
northmid.sickleandthalspecialistnurses@nhs.net
emergencies only: Call: 07773735842
Our Outpatients Clinics are:
We may carry out a telephone consultation instead of a face to face consultation for routine outpatient appointments. This will mean that you would not have to attend the hospital to speak to the doctor. This will be indicated clearly on your appointment letter.
The Annual Review appointment is approximately 30 minutes. Your doctor will review all major systems and possible complications related to your diagnosis during this visit and discuss if further investigations and/or referrals are recommended. Follow-up appointments are scheduled for 15 minutes.
The Red Cell Clinic is run by the Consultant Haematologists, the Lead Nurse Specialist and a Specialist Registrar on the training rotation for Red Cell Disorders. In the nearby future, we will also have a clinical psychologist attending the clinic.
The Red Cell Clinic is by appointment only. You will receive a letter and/or text message with details of your appointment, unless the booking was made less than 72 hours before the actual appointment.
We would like to offer an outstanding and personalised service to all our patients. Having a red cell disorder often involves multiple disciplines and we are aware that the number of appointments in hospital can be rather large. For a smooth experience, we would like to make sure the waiting time in our clinic is as minimal as possible.
Typically, we have about 40-45 patients scheduled for the Red Cell Clinic. In order to reduce the waiting time, we would like to kindly ask you to adhere to your appointment time:
We recommend that you arrive at least 15 minutes before your scheduled time. The health care assistant will take your observations before you will be seen by the team.
Please prepare yourself for the consultation. Consider writing down in advance what you would like to discuss. It is also useful if you bring a record of your medication with you.
Most of our patients attend the Haematology Day Unit regularly, often on a monthly basis or even more. Taking blood and/or placing a cannula can be challenging in patients with a red cell disorder. We would like to make sure that all our patients are looked after by our own highly skilled nurses and that our nurses can take their time if required to perform a difficult procedure.
At the same time, we would like to reduce the waiting time for our patients as much as possible and aim to treat you at the scheduled appointment time because we appreciate that you spend a lot of time in our unit. We are pleased to announce that we now use the Airglove technique for patients with difficult veins.
In order to deliver the care as smoothly as possible, we would like to kindly ask that you:
We would like to ask your specific cooperation with regards to (exchange) blood transfusions.
Exchange red cell transfusions often involve using 6 to 10 units of blood. People with a red cell disorder often have specific blood group requirements. It is not uncommon that for a particular patient, several blood donors have to be identified and be asked to donate in order to guarantee that the right blood is available on the day of transfusion. Blood is not an unlimited resource and has a limited shelf life.
If you cancel your blood transfusion less than 24 hours beforehand, or if you do not attend a scheduled appointment without giving notice, these valuable products will already have been delivered and as such wasted. Not only is this very expensive, but also very ungrateful towards the blood donors who have dedicated themselves to help other people with rare blood disorders.
Please do always attend your blood transfusion appointments and do not cancel less than 24 hours beforehand.
All GP referrals need to be requested via NHS e-Referral Service (eRS)
Advice and Guidance requests can be sent via NHS e-Referral Service (eRS) or Consultant Connect.
Opening Times for our service for the Haematology Day Unit-
Monday 10:30 to 18:30
Wednesday 9:00 to 21:00
Thursday 9:00 to 21:00
Friday 9:00 to 21:00
Saturday 9:00 to 21:00
Treatment in the Haematology Day Unit is by appointment only. The services are led by haematology nurses.
The Haematology Day Unit (HDU) is located in Pymmes -1 and provides treatment for patients with red cell disorders:
The George Marsh Centre is located at St Ann's Hospital:
St Ann's Hospital,
St Ann's Road,
Tottenham,
London,
N15 3TH
The Centre provides the following: