Haematology

The Haematology team provides inpatient services at Ninewells Hospital and run Clinics and Day Unit at both PRI and Ninewells.

• Patients with abnormal blood counts not explained by reactive causes/bleeding etc.
• History suggestive of bleeding disorder.
• Significant Paraproteinaemia.

• Reactive causes of blood count abnormalities.
• Iron deficiency anaemia – direct to specialty relevant to potential source of blood loss.
• Thrombocytosis is often reactive to infection/inflammation/malignancy – clue may be elevated CRP or plasma viscosity.
• Polycythaemia often secondary to hypoxia – any lung disease? Sleep apnoea increasingly seen as a cause.
• Polycythaemia also seen with drugs (testosterone a common cause, or can be relative due to diuretics).
• Persistent lymphadenopathy best directed to appropriate surgical specialty for biopsy than to haematology.
• Elderly patients with low-level paraproteins (e.g. less than 5g/l) that are otherwise well do not require referral.

Standard referral through SCI Gateway.

SCI Gateway is also best route for advice – reviewed several times daily. This allows review of associated results.

Many referrals can be managed by advice through SCI Gateway rather than in-person review when we have all blood results available to review (please attach blood results if referring from Fife and blood tests have been performed in the Kirkcaldy laboratory).

If an emergency contact the on-call Haematologist via Ninewells Switchboard.