Introduction to the Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) Service

Introduction

Our service is responsible for managing the care of patients with a range of lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs). We see a very high number of patients and as a result you might not meet the same health care professional each time.

The medical team consists of speciality haematology consultants (who have overall responsibility for your care), radiotherapy consultants, specialist doctors, and specialist registrars (SpR).

Consultants

• Professor George Follows - Lead Lymphoma/ CLL Consultant
• Dr Ben Uttenthal Consultant - Haematologist
• Dr Dan Hodson Academic - Consultant Haematologist
• Dr Anna Santarsieri Specialist - Doctor in Lymphoma/CLL
• Dr Ajithkumar Consultant - Radiotherapist
• Dr Dee Lynskey Consultant - Radiotherapist

Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) team

The CNS team are your key workers who have specialist knowledge of lymphoproliferative disorders; they work closely alongside the medical team in clinic. They are responsible for co-ordinating investigations, clinics and treatment whilst supporting you throughout your journey.

• Gwyn Stafford - Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Sarah Behan - Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Anna Prifti - Specialist Support Nurse.

Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting

These meetings, where we discuss patient cases happen on a Wednesday morning where This may be appropriate for you if treatment decisions are required. The MDT consists of doctors, nurses and other disciplines working together to ensure you receive coordinated care throughout your journey. At these meetings the team look at scans and biopsy results.

Any outcomes and decisions will be discussed with you at your next appointment.

Other members of the wider team

• Haematology administration team
• Macmillan Cancer support navigator- provides emotional and practical support to patients and their carers.
• Haematology Day Unit: nurses, clinical fellows, administration team
• Dietician Haematology secretaries.

Appointments

The clinic you attend will depend on your diagnosis. Occasionally you might find that clinic appointments are deferred, and days altered. This can be for a number of reasons; however, this will not have a negative effect on your care.

Appointments are made by the clinic reception staff or the haematology administration team. You will be notified of these in advance via post; a telephone call or by ‘MyChart’ (see below).

Appointments take place over the telephone, or in person. Face-to-face reviews take place in the haematology/oncology outpatients department. You will be reviewed by one of the Lymphoproliferative Disorders (LPD) team, either a consultant, specialist registrar (SpR) or a specialist nurse.

If you would like to speak to a particular team member, please let us know well in advance and we will try our best to arrange this for you, although it will not always be possible as different clinics are staffed by different members of the team.

As Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) is a teaching hospital, trainee doctors and nurses might also be present at your review, with your consent. We understand that this can be an overwhelming time and encourage you to bring a relative or friend to your appointment for support. Please check the latest hospital guidance before your appointment to ensure this is allowed.

Clinics

These clinics are staffed by experienced healthcare assistants, and appointments are booked by the oncology reception team.

• Tuesday: Professor Follows, Dr Santarsieri, and a specialist haematology registrar.
• Wednesday: Professor Follows, Dr Hodson, Dr Uttenthal, Dr Ajithkumar, Dr Dee Lynskey, and a specialist haematology registrar.
• Thursday: Professor Follows, Dr Santarsieri, and a specialist haematology registrar.

To complement these clinics there are Specialist Nurse Led Clinics which you may be referred to.

Blood tests

Blood tests are normally required prior to your clinic review. unless you have been specifically informed otherwise. It is your responsibility to organise your blood test before your clinic visit.

The options for having blood tests taken are:

1. The phlebotomy room of the oncology outpatient clinic, open from08:00 (8am) to 17:00 (5pm). This can be done on the day of clinic; however, it can take 90 minutes or more to get a result from the laboratory, so please allow time for your blood test before your appointment. You can also have a blood test in the clinic phlebotomy room at other times.
2. Newmarket Road Park and Ride. No appointment is needed; this is a drive-through service, available between 09:30 (9.30am) and 16:30 (4:30pm) Monday to Friday. No blood forms or tubes are needed.
3. Some GP practices will undertake blood tests for patients. For these you will need to bring the paper forms, which will either be given to you in clinic or sent from us in the post. Ideally, the blood tests would be sent from your GP practice to CUH, rather than another hospital laboratory.

If your blood tests are processed by another hospital, please call our administrator on 01223 349086 to ensure the results are available for your clinic appointment.

If you live far from CUH you might prefer to have your LPD care provided by the haematology team in your local hospital – you can discuss this with a member of the specialist team.

1. If you are unable to leave your home, the nursing team can arrange for your district nurse to take your blood tests.

Clinical trials

CUH is a busy research centre and is involved in clinical trials supported by the clinical trials team. If appropriate, your consultant will discuss any relevant trials during your clinic appointment.

Inpatient admissions

The vast majority of the LPD service is outpatient based. If your treatment requires you to be admitted to hospital, the LPD team will discuss this with you in clinic.

We have two haematology teams who look after inpatients across several main wards including C10, U3 and D9.

Contact numbers

You can use MyChart to manage your appointments, and for non-urgent messages.

Alternatively:

• to change a clinic appointment, call oncology reception on 01223 216551
• to contact the haematology day unit appointment, call 01223 217720
• For urgent queries, or if you are unwell, call 01223 274225 (available 24/7).
• For non-urgent LPD related queries, please leave a message for the specialist nurse team on 01223 596279 (option 1). We do our best to respond within 48 hrs Monday- Friday.
• For non-medical queries or other practical support, call the Macmillan Cancer navigator on 01223 216876.

Other support and information

Not all of the patients we look after have blood cancers, but we hope those of you who do find the following links helpful. If you do not have blood cancer, but are cared for by our team, please talk to us about what support would be useful for you.

Lymphoma Action (opens in a new tab) – A charity committed to supporting patients with Lymphoma/ CLL and other similar disorders. They publish excellent information leaflets.

Blood cancer UK (opens in a new tab) – A charity with information about all types of blood cancer.

Macmillan UK Cancer Information and Support (opens in a new tab) – A charity with information about the individual lymphoma disease groups, which is a good source of helpful practical advice, such as financial advice, for patients with cancer.

Maggie’s (opens in a new tab) – Maggie’s Cambridge provides a wide range of help for cancer patients before, during and after their treatment.

Medication

Bring all of your medicines (including inhalers, injections, creams, eye drops or patches) and a current repeat prescription from your GP

Please tell the ward staff about all of the medicines you use. During your stay If you wish to take your medication yourself (self-medicate) please speak with your nurse. Pharmacists visit the wards regularly and can help with any medicine queries.

MyChart

We would encourage you to sign up for MyChart. This is the electronic patient portal at Cambridge University Hospitals that enables patients to securely access parts of their health record held within the hospital’s electronic patient record system (Epic). It is available via your home computer or mobile device.

More information is available on our website: MyChart

Privacy and dignity

Same sex bays and bathrooms are offered in all wards except critical care and theatre recovery areas where the use of high-tech equipment and/or specialist one to one care is required.