New sickle cell pathway under UCLH@Home

A new service to provide comprehensive care and support for patients living with Sickle Cell disorder is now available in the comfort of their homes thanks to a partnership between UCLH and Whittington Health NHS Trusts.

This innovative service aims to enhance the quality of life for people living with sickle cell disorder by offering personalised, high-quality nursing care without the need for hospital stays.

Our UCLH@Home service, run in partnership with Whittington Health NHS Trust, plays an important role in the way we provide care, allowing suitable patients to receive care in their own homes and meaning they can be discharged from hospital sooner with less risk of readmission.

Now we’ve expanded UCLH@Home with a new sickle cell service.

Sickle cell patients often have complex ongoing health needs so any reduction in the time they have to spend in hospital should make a positive difference to their quality of life.

UCLH@Home team can offer comprehensive care that includes pain management and general health monitoring. We’re also working to launch a blood transfusion service in the coming months.

Consultant haematologist Perla Eleftheriou said: “Thanks to advances in the care and treatment of patients with Sickle Cell disorder, people are now living even longer with the condition.

"This is great news, but it means that their health needs can become more complex, increasing the frequency of hospital admissions and the length of time they need to spend in hospital. We’re hoping that for some sickle cell patients, the UCLH@home pathway will speed up safe discharge, meaning they can get home sooner while minimising the risk of readmission.

“As sickle cell is quite unpredictable, we will be cautious in how we identify which patients are suitable to receive care in their own homes and we’ll be monitoring the programme closely to ensure we have the right criteria in place to identify suitable patients.”

Find out more about UCLH@Home by clicking here.

UCLH and Whittington Health have a long history of working together to benefit patients, staff and our communities across Camden, Haringey, Islington and beyond. This service is an example of this in action.

Building on our successes, our two organisations believe that there is a case for closer collaboration, where it makes sense clinically and operationally, while remaining two separate organisations.

You can find out more about our partnership by clicking here.