Haematology

Our vision

Our vision is of a Haematology Institute and Clinical Academic Network that brings together our strengths in clinical service, research, and education, to deliver exceptional clinical care for our patients. 

Our aim is to develop cures and vaccinations for haematological conditions so that future generations do not have to face lives with these diseases - from blood cancers to haemoglobinopathies, such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia, to haemophilia.  

As well as providing the highest quality of care for all blood diseases, our vision is to be world-leading in research and education in all areas of blood diseases. The Haematology Institute will provide a patient-centred research programme with an integrated clinical trials unit for patients so that they will have access to the latest treatment developments.

Uniquely, we will focus on ’whole-person’ care through our Mind & Body Programme for all haematology patients. Mental health impacts on clinical outcomes but globally thus far there is little research in this area. Through the development of the Leukaemia UK Mind & Body team in Haematology at King’s College Hospital, working in collaboration with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, we will examine how research links the body and mind in haematological disorders and make 'whole-person' care available for all haematology patients.

Read our latest haematology news    |    Upcoming haematology events

Our clinical strengths

We provide care for more than 20,000 individual patients every year and serve a regional network of more than eight million people, including a large proportion from ethnic minorities. Our combined haematology departments within King’s Health Partners are among the largest in the UK and provide the largest adult transplantation programme in the UK.

• We are the single largest UK centre caring for people with sickle cell disease in the UK. This gives us a unique capacity to continually improve how we provide care, and to test and develop therapies and cures
• We are one of the first centres in the UK and globally to use chimeric antigen receptors (CAR-T) cells to treat lymphoma, leukaemia and myeloma
• King's Health Partners is a national and world leader in rare blood diseases such as bone marrow failure (BMF). This includes aplastic anaemia, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and porphyria, and how these conditions link in with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). We have developed new genetic and immune tests resulting in more accurate diagnosis of inherited and acquired BMF, better predictive tests for response to specific treatments, and new disease treatments
• We have the largest myeloid practice in Europe and an international reputation for expertise in MDS
• The King's Health Partners Haematology Institute is a national centre for haemophilia and thrombosis and we are establishing the use of gene therapy to cure haemophilia.

The institute model will be focused on delivering clinical care closer to home through highly networked and innovative uses of technology. We are currently developing pilots for home-based chemotherapy to minimise patient travel and ensure that all patients have access to the best care.

We will foster and support excellence in all aspects of the patient pathway, through primary, community and secondary care. This networked approach will in turn support excellence in research, for example, through access to a larger population with a higher number of rare and complex patients across the network.

The King's Health Partners Haematology Institute and Network will ensure that all patients receive the same scope and quality of care, regardless of where they live or receive services.

Pan-London Blood Cancer guidelines

We are working with partners across south east London to collaborate on improving aspects of care right through from diagnosis to how we care for people living with and beyond cancer. This work has been further supported with the release of the new Pan-London guidelines for management of haematological malignancies. The new guidelines have been written to help clinicians in the network follow clear, consistent and evidence-based referral pathways for patients with blood cancers. In doing so we will able to provide more consistent approaches to treatment and reduce unwarranted variations in care, ultimately helping to improve patient outcomes on a wider scale.

> Access the guidelines here

Adult Haematology GP Referral Guide

As part of our commitment to supporting excellence across the patient pathway, Haematology Consultants at King’s College Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trusts have agreed on a joint Adult Haematology Referral Guide to support GPs in referring patients for haematology.

As well as the detailed guide, there’s a summary Quick Guide for easy reference that summarises the key points. GPs must refer via the e-Referrals System and ensure all relevant results are sent with the referral. In addition to using the Referral Guide, GPs can continue to access advice through existing channels, for example, e-Referrals System Advice and Guidance, and Consultant Connect.  

The guides can be accessed via the links below. While the clinical content is the same, the version for each hospital differs slightly due to the clinic set up in the e-Referrals System.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust guides:

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Adult Haematology Referral Guide
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Quick Guide

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust guides:

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Adult Haematology Referral Guide
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Quick Guide

Our research strengths

Our research output and impact in haematology is already among the top 10 in the world, and we are currently conducting nearly 200 clinical trials across all aspects of haematology, in all trial phases.

• King’s Health Partners has produced the largest number of retro- and lenti-virus vectors for clinical trials in Europe, producing more gene therapy vectors than academic institutions and industry combined
• The first in human CD80/IL2 vaccine clinical trial for AML patients who relapse after haemopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is in progress. This has led to a new vaccine strategy for older AML patients who are ineligible for HSCT, this study about to open.
• Our CAR-T cell programme opened the first in human trial of allogeneic CAR-T cell in relapsed B-acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL), and a CD123 CAR-T cell trial for high-risk AML is in development
• In gene therapy and cellular therapy, we are unique within the UK. No other centre has the clinical and academic expertise and infrastructure in these therapies across the whole spectrum of research and clinical delivery, from bedside to bench and back 
• A chair in therapeutic gene editing has been appointed to work on the development of curative strategies for haemoglobinopathies, particularly sickle cell disease
• A first in human trial is being developed using expanded T regulatory cells to treat aplastic anaemia
• We are world-leading in our work on understanding age-related clonal haematopoiesis (ARCH), establishing a state-of-the-art ’5,000 sample+’ integrated ‘King’s-Celgene’ partnership biobank to serially investigate the development, maintenance and significance of clonal haematopoiesis and age-related immune modulation in the older population. A major objective is to understand the mechanisms of ageing and the role it plays in haematological conditions
• The King's Health Partners Haematology Institute will provide rapid translation of ground-breaking research leading to novel drug discovery, such as targeting mixed-lineage leukaemia with poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, myeloid CAR-Ts, tissue specific Tregs and MSCs, and virus-specific immune effector cells.

Our education strengths

The breadth of national and international clinical services and research on offer already attracts high-quality doctors, scientists, nurses, allied health professionals (AHPs), and students from all over the world keen to benefit from our educational expertise. We are able to deliver 100% of the medical post-graduate training curriculum in haematology, lending us a unique platform from which to build a centre of excellence in education and training.

• King’s Health Partners pass rates for the Royal College of Pathology Fellowship examinations (FRCPath) are between 65% and 75%, compared to the national pass rate of around 40-45%
• We have a strong track record of supporting trainees in out of programme research (OOPR) or experience (OOPE) placements. At any one time, 35%-40% of our trainees are pursuing MDs or PhDs 
• Our weekly webinar “Case of the Week”, attracts a local, national, and international audience, and with nearly 200 cases already available to view represents an important learning resource
• An ‘intercalated BSc in haematology' with 30 available places, only the second in the country, will be recruiting medical students from King's College London's medical school and other medical schools from the autumn of 2020
• We will offer a workshop model-based, interactive three-day preceptorship in ‘CAR-T cell; from bench to bedside’ and ‘Sickle cell: a holistic hands-on manual’ on a bi-annual basis from 2019
• We will start an MSc in clinical haematology (recruitment begins in 2020), and a structured one-year training programme for international postgraduate doctors keen to further their expertise in the speciality
• An abridged, more flexible version of the MSc is also available through a three month (on campus) 30 credit haematology module available from autumn 2019 for national and international postgraduates
• We provide an eclectic, busy educational calendar, richly populated with national educational days and events for all stakeholders including specialist nurses, pharmacists, laboratory personnel and GPs.

We also offer a PG Cert in Advanced Medical Training (Children’s Health, Haematology or Women’s Health) - a flexible course suitable for experienced international medical graduates and UK Trust doctors which can be completed part-time alongside full-time clinical commitments.

Mind & Body  

Psychological distress is a common and understandable response to a blood cancer diagnosis and its treatments, as well as for those living with long-term conditions like aplastic anaemia or sickle cell disease. Mood, quality of life, functioning, and overall mental health and wellbeing can be profoundly affected. We know that people with long-term conditions are more likely to have a mental health problem.

Psychological assessment, treatment and support are crucial components of caring holistically for patients with a haematological disorder and there are well established and pioneering psychological therapy services within the existing Haematological Medicine departments at King’s College Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trusts.

The Haematology Institute will develop and embed comprehensive and multi-disciplinary psychosocial care into practice from the outset. We will build on the existing haematological psychological therapy services across King's Health Partners, bringing together expertise in clinical practice and research from counselling, psychology, psychotherapy, social work, psychiatry and allied health professionals in a Mind & Body service which patients will be able to access from the point of diagnosis.

Our vision is that all patients will be psychologically assessed early on in the pathway and that our model will become an exemplar in providing holistic, psychosocial care to haematology patients. We will do this by translating the expertise available through strong links with colleagues in South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London. We are currently working with Leukaemia UK on a two-year pilot programme to develop and test our multi-disciplinary approach to integrated mind and body care.

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