Haematology Laboratory at King's College Hospital

Laboratory overview

The Haematology and Coagulation Laboratory at King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill, now functions as a spoke laboratory within the Synnovis hub‑and‑spoke pathology network. As a spoke site, the Denmark Hill laboratory is focused on delivering rapid‑turnaround core haematology and routine coagulation testing, ensuring timely diagnostic support for inpatients, emergency care and urgent clinical pathways. This operational model aligns with Synnovis’ wider transformation programme, which separates urgent and non‑urgent testing to improve responsiveness and overall service efficiency.

Core haematology services at Denmark Hill include full blood counts (FBCs), reticulocyte counts, blood film examination and malaria detection. These tests support high‑volume, day‑to‑day clinical demand for the hospital’s large and diverse patient population, which includes significant activity in acute medicine, emergency care, haematology clinics and specialist medical services. King’s remains a major centre for haematology and haemato‑oncology, serving both local and regional populations with complex diagnostic needs.

The spoke site also delivers a focused portfolio of routine coagulation assays, including Prothrombin Time (PT), INR, APTT, fibrinogen, D‑dimer and related baseline coagulation screens. In addition to these core assays, the Denmark Hill laboratory continues to support essential haemostasis investigations such as factor assays, lupus anticoagulant (LA) screening, von Willebrand factor (VWF) testing and anti‑Xa assays, which are crucial for anticoagulation monitoring, bleeding disorder assessment and peri‑operative management. These tests directly support clinical pathways in emergency care, surgery, maternity, thrombosis services and haematology clinics.

Testing at Denmark Hill is delivered by experienced biomedical scientists operating within a robust quality framework. The wider haematology service at King’s is well‑established, performing high volumes of coagulation and specialist haematology investigations and participating extensively in external quality assurance schemes, ensuring reliability and consistency of diagnostic results across the network

Working as a spoke site allows the Denmark Hill laboratory to maintain strong collaboration with clinical teams on site—supporting urgent care and providing fast access to critical tests—while more complex, specialist and high‑throughput analyses are processed at the central Blackfriars Hub. This integrated approach enables rapid decision‑making for acutely unwell patients while ensuring that advanced diagnostics continue to be delivered within a high‑capacity, specialist environment

For full accreditation details and access to the Haematology User Handbook, please refer to the Blackfriars Hub Haematology page.