Haematology is the study of blood and its diseases.
Blood is a specialized tissue which circulates around the body. It contains red cells which carry oxygen, white cells which help to fight infections and platelets which help the blood to clot. These are all carried around in a liquid called plasma which is full of dissolved nutrients. Blood is manufactured in the bone marrow, the liquid centre of bones.
Haematologists are specialist doctors who have had years of extra training to diagnose and treat the more severe and uncommon diseases of the blood
Consultant Haematologists
Dr Anna Morris Dr Ihssan Tahan
There is a Trust Grade doctor who assists in the outpatient clinics. Follow-up patients may also be seen by the Haematology Clinical Nurse Specialist
Out-of-hours cover is provided by the Haematology service in Bristol.
As the clinics are dealing with disorders of the blood, all patients will require a blood test on each occasion they attend. For follow-up patients, these are taken on their arrival at the clinic and the results made available by the time the doctor is ready to see them. New patients generally see the Consultants first in case they decide to request extra tests.
New patient appointments are only given on referral from a GP or other doctor.
Various pieces of information may need to be gathered to make a diagnosis. The Consultant will take a history of any medical problems. Blood tests will be taken, some of which may need to be sent away to specialist laboratories in Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds or London. It may be necessary to look at the bone marrow, which involves having a needle inserted into a bone under a local anaesthetic, like at the dentist. This is called a bone marrow biopsy and may be performed by one of the doctors or the specialist nurse. Sometimes a lymph node which has become enlarged may need to be removed and looked at down a microscope. Finally, special xrays and scans may be required.
Many treatments will be delivered as outpatients, either as tablets or requiring a visit to the Weston Oncology and Haematology Day Unit. Inpatient treatments need to be administered in Specialist Units and patients are referred to the Avon Haematology Unit at the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre. The team attend a Multidisciplinary Team Meeting there each Thursday along with other specialists from around the region including specialist xray doctors (radiologists) and histopathologists, who look at tissues down the microscope to make a diagnosis or assess responses to treatment.
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