National Network case study: Haematology

Dr Kaur is a Consultant Haematologist at Luton and Dunstable University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She has been a consultant for two years and joined the National Consultant Network, in October 2018, answering Telephone Advice & Guidance calls from GPs across the UK.

Since joining the National Consultant Network, Dr Kaur has enjoyed answering calls from GPs, saying the benefits include:

We asked Dr Kaur what advice she would give to consultants who are thinking about joining the National Consultant Network but are unsure:

“It’s a good way for them to keep up their regular practice of clinical advice – in addition to the benefits it brings to patients and their local departments by helping to avoid unnecessary referrals.”

Regarding GPs who are unsure about contacting a consultant on the National Consultant Network because they are not in their local area, Dr Kaur gives this advice:

“If you’re uncertain about a case it is always worth discussing your concerns and questions as the patient might be in a situation that needs further attention.”

We asked Dr Kaur to provide a recent example of the advice she gave a GP regarding a patient.

A GP used Telephone Advice & Guidance to contact Dr Kaur about a patient as they were unsure “which investigations or whether a referral was needed for a patient with a long history of non-specific body pain and a slightly raised kappa light chain level.”

How Telephone Advice & Guidance through the National Network helped:

During the conversation, Dr Kaur explained “that a normal haemoglobin, creatinine and the very slight increase in kappa light chains, in the setting of a normal serum protein electrophoresis meant that this did not warrant a referral.”

Instead Dr Kaur advised the GP to “check the patient’s calcium level for completeness and check the serum free light chains in 12 months.”