Haematology (Laboratory)

The Paediatric Haematology laboratory provides a 24 hour, 7 day a week diagnostic and interpretive service in support of the trust’s clinical activities and a 9 to 5 service to GPs.

Whilst some  of the services provided by the Department are only available within routine working hours (09.00-17.30 Monday to Friday), some are essential services and  are  available at all times. These include blood bank, common general haematology and coagulation tests. For full details of the range of tests provided and sample requirements, please refer to the Laboratory Handbook.

A team of highly qualified, trained and dedicated Biomedical Scientists and assistants, led by the Head of Department – Prof. Ajay Vora and manager – Mr G.Bellamy, are responsible for the provision and interpretation of accurate and reliable information and the preparation of therapeutic material to be used in the clinical setting. Three consultant paediatric haematologists provide interpretation of test results and advice on the appropriate use of blood components.

The Department is divided into the following sections:

• General Haematology – includes performing full blood counts (FBCs) on in-patients, outpatients and GP patients.
• Coagulation – includes performing clotting screens on in-patients and out-patients that may have disturbed coagulation resulting from a variety of conditions, plus specialist factor assays to support the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with clotting factor deficiencies, for example, children with haemophilia.
• Blood Bank – provides blood components e.g. red cells, platelets and plasma for patients requiring planned surgery; or life threatening emergencies/accidents and for the support of patients with anaemia that require transfusion secondary to the side effects of treatment for an underlying disease –e.g. acute leukaemia. Blood products, e.g. factor VIII are supplied to help treat haemophilia.
• Flow Cytometry – essential as part of the diagnosis for new cases of haematological diseases – for example acute leukaemia. It is also used for the monitoring of lymphocyte subset numbers in patients with HIV/AIDS and other immune disorders.
• Capillary blood collection service – this is provided for outpatient clinics, in-patients and for GP patients. Though the achievable sample volume is limited this technique is usually more acceptable in a paediatric setting. 

General Haematology is sub-divided into various sub-sections:

• Automation – FBC samples are processed through an automated blood counter – Advia 120, which provides information on many parameters of the blood, including the haemoglobin (Hb), white cell count (WCC), white cell sub-populations (neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, etc) and the platelet count. The information derived from these can be used, for example, to help identify the presence of infection, monitor a patients’ response to therapy or assist in the diagnosis of disease (e.g. leukaemia). The red cell size is also measured which can help determine the cause of anaemia.
• Microscopy – for the full investigation of some blood disorders, it is necessary to examine a film of blood spread on a slide. When stained with particular dyes and viewed with a microscope, the red cells, white cells and platelets can clearly be distinguished by their physical appearance which may give additional information analysers cannot provide, e.g. presence of malaria.
• Haemoglobinopathy investigations – some disorders of red blood cells are of genetic origin, for example, sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia. Closely examining the type of haemoglobin in red cells can help in the diagnosis and monitoring of these and other red cell abnormalities.
• Cytochemistry – using special dyes white cells in blood and bone marrow can be examined microscopically aiding the diagnosis and monitoring of leukaemias.
• Bone marrow transplantation – the laboratory supports the bone marrow transplantation of patients with malignant disease (e.g. leukaemia) and serious non-malignant disease (e.g. sickle cell anaemia).
   
  In addition to the tests provided, the Clinical Haematology team comprising 3 consultants, see and treat patients affected by a wide range of haematological disorders. For further information, see the Oncology and Clinical Haematology web page.

Meet the team

 

Ajay Vora

 

Consultant Paediatric Haematologist

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• View Ajay Vora's profile

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