Red Cell Laboratory at the Blackfriar’s Hub

Red Cell Services are primarily based at the Synnovis Hub, with the Special Haematology service based at GSTT for DNA analysis. The Red Cell Laboratories currently serves the local population of south east of London and is also a national referral centre that provides a comprehensive service for the analysis of haemoglobin variants, thalassaemia syndromes and red cell enzymopathies.

These labs provide universal Antenatal Screening following the guidelines of the NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening programme, as well as Neonatal Screening in co-operation with the primary newborn screening laboratory at the Synnovis Hub as part of the Regional Newborn Screening Program, processing approximately 60,000 samples annually using mass spectrometry and HPLC on dried blood spots (Guthrie cards). The screening service is commissioned by the NHS Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening programme, and performed by the Specialist Red Cell laboratory at Synnovis Hub and, for DNA confirmation only, Special Haematology at GSTT and Molecular Pathology at KCH in order to meet the programme standards and KPIs.

The sickle cell and thalassaemia service serves primary care practices within the south east of London, King’s College Hospital and Princess Royal University Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust.