New service across Bedfordshire to treat patients living with sickle cell disease
A new service has begun in Bedfordshire to treat patients who are living with sickle cell disease.
The service is a collaboration between NHS Blood and Transplant and the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The trust’s Therapeutic Apheresis Services team will offer a travelling red cell exchange service, which initially will serve Luton and Dunstable University Hospital before being rolled out elsewhere.
The new service will reduce waiting lists and the need for patients to have to travel to London to be treated.
The first patient to be treated by nurses through the new service on Wednesday, August 13 was 56-year-old Priscilla Sackey from Luton.
Priscilla will now have a red cell exchange every six weeks to manage the disease and keep her symptoms under control, while her 18-year-old son will receive exchanges at the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital.
Henry Jarvis, lead nurse at NHS Blood and Transplant’s therapeutic apheresis services in Bedfordshire, says: “It’s a real pleasure to be able to launch this new service in Bedfordshire and to treat patients who have been on a waiting list for a red cell exchange programme or who have been travelling into London to receive the regular treatment that they need, just like Priscilla.
“Bringing care closer to patients is one of the things our TAS teams does really well and it gives us great joy to be able to make what can be quite tricky treatment schedules, that little bit easier.
“We see many of our patients with sickle cell every few weeks and we’re looking forward to getting to know each of them.”