Haematology psychology service
Sickle cell and thalassaemia
We provide psychological support to people over the age of 16 with sickle cell disorder (SCD) and thalassaemia and their families.
You may experience challenges at different times when living with sickle cell disorder (SCD) or thalassaemia. It may be useful to talk to a psychologist about the difficulties you experience, including:
- understanding and adjusting to your changing health
- managing treatments
- coping with your feelings, such as stress, anxiety, low mood
- adjusting to being in hospital
Seeing a psychologist is a normal part of your care.
We offer:
- one-to-one therapy sessions in person, by phone, or by video
- group support
- inpatient consultation
- support with memory or concentration difficulties
- support in routine clinics for people with SCD and thalassaemia
We also offer cognitive assessments.
Some people with SCD or thalassaemia experience changes and challenges in their cognitive abilities as a result of their health condition.
A cognitive assessment can identify changes in your abilities such as memory, concentration and problem solving. It shows what your strengths and limitations are, so we can work with you to find ways for you to cope. This can help you in your everyday activities, working life or studies.
If you're interested in finding out more, please ask us about this.
We work with other health professionals. We support them in providing psychologically informed medical care.
This service is led by:
-
Heather Rawle
Consultant clinical and health psychologist
How to get an appointment
You can ask your nurse or doctor in the sickle cell team to refer you. You can also contact us by phone or email.
Changing or cancelling your appointment
Please contact us by phone or email. Please tell us 24 hours before your appointment.
If you miss many appointments, we may discharge you from our service.
During your appointment
Your first appointment will be by phone. It will last 30 minutes.
We will talk to you about your concerns and get to know more about you. This will help us decide if:
- psychology sessions may be helpful for you, or
- another service may be more suitable to meet your needs
After your appointment
After your appointment, we may offer you individual therapy with our team. We will add you to our waiting list. We will contact you to arrange your first therapy appointment as soon as we are able to offer you this.
The waiting time will depend on the demand on our service.
Sharing what we talk about
It may sometimes be useful to share some information with the team caring for you. This is so we can support your physical and mental health as best as possible. We will ask your permission to share this information.
You can always ask us to keep certain things confidential.
If we are ever worried that you or someone that you know is at risk or unsafe then we have a duty to tell other professionals.
