Can someone please advise my last 3 blood test results have shown high RBC / Hb /Hct with the latest counts of RBC 6.15 Hb 188 Hct 0.544 my GP has referred me to haematology but as non urgent just wanted to understand how the referral system works.
Any help or advice gratefully received
Hi @Fenboy and welcome to the forum.
I understand why you need more information. I would be the same. I wonder if you could arrange another appointment with your GP to ask the questions you have. Sometimes we come out of an appointment and have more questions and worries than when we went in.
This is definitely a question for somebody with more knowledge than me. I have copied in the @BloodCancerUK_Nurses who will be able to give you more information.
I have also copied the link below which gives you the number for the blood cancer helpline in case you want to give them a call to talk things through.
Please keep us updated on how you are doing. it’s horrible waiting for appointments and results but if you need to chat there is always somebody on the forum to listen.
Nichola
Thank you, if I don’t hear back soon I’ll book in with my GP again to try to understand what’s going on.
Hello @Fenboy
Thank you for your post and welcome to our forum.
We are sorry to hear that you are going through what we can imagine is a worrying time.
As @Nichola75 has kindly said perhaps arranging a GP appointment may be helpful to go through worries and concerns, you could perhaps ring the GP and see if they know how long the wait may be for a non-urgent referral. You could alternatively, call the switchboard of the hospital you have been referred to, to speak to the haematology secretary. They will be able to look at list of appointment times for you.
Unfortunately, each hospital trust differs in their waiting times for referrals. For a suspected cancer or for symptoms that need urgently investigated to rule this out, patients will be put on the ‘2 week wait pathway’ where the aim in the UK is to be seen within 2 weeks from the referral date.
For non-urgent referrals the NHS states on their website:
‘The maximum waiting time for non-urgent, consultant-led treatments is 18 weeks from the day your appointment is booked through the NHS e-Referral Service, or when the hospital or service receives your referral letter.’
Further information and to search for your specific trust, visit Guide to NHS waiting times in England - NHS however, this may not apply to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Please keep up updated on how you are doing.
Take care & warm wishes,
Emma (support services nurse)
I have been recently diagnosed…..
Initially my appointment with Haematology was April 2026 !!
However when they saw my blood tests they contacted me and saw me within a week.
I suppose each NHS Trust is different.
Hope it works out for you
Thank you, guess it’s just a waiting game, not really sure if my results are that high, just that they are outside the ‘normal’ parameters.
Awaiting all sorts of consultants, in fact think I have the trifecta of ‘ologies Gastroenterology / Haematology / Urology
All good 