Hematologist
CION Cancer Clinics
Going to a local hospital instead of your centre | CION Cancer Clinics
In an emergency, go to the nearest hospital with an emergency department or call 108, even if your blood cancer is treated somewhere far away. Fever during treatment, heavy bleeding, breathlessness or new confusion should not wait for a long journey. Tell the local team about the blood cancer straight away, give them your reports, and call your haematology team so both can guide care together. At CION Cancer Clinics, our haematology team supports patients and families through treatment, cost questions and life at home.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Basudev PokhrelConsultant Haematologist · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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On this page
- Should you go to the local hospital or travel to your centre?
- Which situation are you in right now?
- What should you do once you reach the local hospital?
- What can a local hospital handle, and what may need a bigger one?
- How do you keep your haematology team involved?
- What do families believe, and what is actually true?
- Common questions about using a local hospital in an emergency
The short answer
Should you go to the local hospital or travel to your centre?
If it is an emergency, go to the nearest hospital with an emergency department, or call 108. Do not spend hours on the road to reach the centre that treats the blood cancer.
With a blood cancer, a few hours can matter a great deal. A fever when the white cell count is low, heavy bleeding, sudden breathlessness or new confusion can all get worse on the journey. A local emergency team can start the first steps. Your haematology team can guide them by phone.
Why families hesitate
Many families in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh live far from Hyderabad. It feels natural to want the doctors who know the case. People also worry that a small hospital will not understand leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma. That worry is fair. The answer is to take your information with you and to bring your own team in by phone, not to delay care.
When travelling to your centre makes sense
If the person is alert, breathing comfortably, not bleeding and has no fever, call your team first. They may ask you to come in the same day, or they may say the nearest hospital is the safer choice. Let them make that call with you.
This page cannot tell you whether a symptom is serious. If you are unsure, treat it as an emergency.
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Go to the nearest emergency department now
Do not wait to reach your usual centre if the person has a fever or shivering during treatment, bleeding that will not stop, trouble breathing, chest pain, a fit, new confusion, sudden weakness in the legs, or cannot pass urine. Call 108 or go straight to the nearest hospital. Say the words "blood cancer" and name the treatment at the front desk. Call your haematology team once care has started.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistFour situations
Which situation are you in right now?
Most calls from worried families fall into one of these. When a situation sits between two cards, choose the more urgent one.
Nearest hospital, now
Any of the red flags above. Here the distance to your centre is the danger. The first hour of care matters more than who gives it.
Do not
- Wait until morning
- Give fever tablets and watch
- Drive several hours to Hyderabad
Call your team first
New mouth sores, loose motions, a rash, bruising without bleeding, or feeling far weaker than usual. Call the number your centre gave you. They will tell you where to go and how fast.
It can usually wait for your centre
A question about a report, a missed routine visit, mild tiredness that is not getting worse. Ring during working hours and book the next visit. If anything changes, move up a card.
The local hospital wants to transfer you
Sometimes the emergency team steadies the person and then advises a move to a larger hospital. Ask them to speak to your haematology team before the transfer, and ask for a written note of what was given.
Step by step
What should you do once you reach the local hospital?
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Say it at the front desk
Say "blood cancer, on treatment" before anything else. Name the condition and the last treatment date if you know it. This tells the team the infection risk may be high and moves you up the queue.
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Hand over the file
Give them the latest blood report, the discharge summary and the list of current medicines. If you only have photos on your phone, show those. Old reports still help.
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Call your haematology team
Once the doctor has seen the person, call your centre. Ask the local doctor to speak to them directly if possible. One short call can save a lot of guesswork.
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Ask what is being given
You are allowed to ask. Note down the name of each drip, antibiotic or blood product given. Your own team will need this later.
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Leave with papers
Whether the person goes home, stays or is moved, ask for a written summary and copies of any tests. Take them to the next visit at your centre.
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Side by side
What can a local hospital handle, and what may need a bigger one?
Most emergency departments can
May need a larger hospital or your team
Check a blood count and start antibiotics through a drip
Decide what the fever means for the next cycle of treatment
Give oxygen and fluids and steady the blood pressure
Intensive care for someone who stays very unwell
Stop simple bleeding and arrange a transfusion if blood is available
Platelets or special blood products that some blood banks do not keep
Do a basic scan or X-ray
Urgent MRI for back pain with leg weakness
After the first hour
How do you keep your haematology team involved?
Call them early, and keep calling as things change. Your haematology team knows the diagnosis, the treatment and the recent counts. The local doctor knows how the person looks right now. The two together make safer decisions than either one alone.
Do not change medicines on your own
The local team may pause or add medicines while the person is unwell. That is their decision, made with your haematology team. Do not stop, skip or restart any cancer medicine, steroid or blood thinner at home because of the visit. Ask your centre what to do next.
Paying for the visit
Emergency care should never wait for a payment question. Afterwards, ask whether the hospital accepts Aarogyasri, PM-JAY, CGHS, ECHS, EHS or cashless insurance. Scheme rules change, so check the current rules with the hospital desk or the scheme helpline.
What happens at CION afterwards
Bring the local papers to your next visit. CION's haematology team, led by Dr. Basudev Pokhrel, reviews what happened, discusses the case at a tumour board if the plan needs to change, and coordinates with other qualified centres where needed.
Commonly believed
What do families believe, and what is actually true?
"A small hospital will not know what to do with blood cancer."
Emergency doctors handle fever, bleeding and breathing trouble every day. They may not know the details of the cancer, which is why you bring the file and call your team. The first steps are the same everywhere.
"We should wait until morning and go to our own doctor."
Infection in someone with a low white cell count can become dangerous overnight. Waiting for a familiar face is one of the most common causes of delay. Go now, and ring your team in the morning.
"If we go elsewhere, our centre will not take us back."
Your treating team wants you to get emergency care wherever is fastest. Going locally does not end your treatment with them. Tell them what happened, and they carry on from there.
"A fever tablet will do until we reach the centre."
A fever tablet can bring the temperature down while the infection keeps spreading. It can hide the warning sign that tells doctors to act. Do not use it as a reason to delay.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about using a local hospital in an emergency
Is it safe to go to a local hospital with blood cancer?
In an emergency, yes. The nearest emergency department is usually safer than a long journey. Tell them about the blood cancer straight away, give them your reports and call your haematology team. The local team starts urgent care, and your own team helps guide what comes next.
Should we call 108 or drive ourselves?
Call 108 if the person is very breathless, confused, fitting, bleeding heavily or cannot sit up. The ambulance team can start help on the way. If the person is alert and a car is ready, driving to the nearest emergency department is reasonable. Do not drive to a distant centre instead.
What papers should we carry?
The latest blood report, the diagnosis, the last discharge summary, the list of current medicines and your haematology team's phone number. Keep photos of all of these on your phone as well. A small folder by the door saves precious minutes when you need to leave quickly.
The local doctor wants to stop a cancer medicine. What do we do?
Ask them to speak to your haematology team before any long-term change. Short pauses during an emergency are sometimes needed and are a medical decision. Do not decide on your own to stop or restart a medicine afterwards. Ask your own team at the next call or visit.
Can the local hospital give platelets or blood?
Many can give red cells. Platelets and special blood products are not kept by every blood bank. If the person needs them, the local team may arrange them from another bank or advise a transfer. Tell them if your team has said the person needs a special type of blood.
What if the emergency doctor does not know the treatment?
That is common and not a reason to leave. Show the medicine list and the discharge summary, and ask them to call your haematology team. Many centres, including CION, give families a number for exactly this. Clear information from you helps the doctor far more than a long history.
Will our insurance or scheme cover a local emergency visit?
It depends on the hospital and your cover. Many hospitals accept Aarogyasri, PM-JAY, CGHS, ECHS, EHS or cashless insurance, but not all. Get care first. Then ask the billing desk what is accepted, and check the current scheme rules, as they change.
Should we move to our main centre once things settle?
Sometimes. That depends on how unwell the person is and what care the local hospital can give. Let the local doctor and your haematology team decide together. A move is safer once breathing, blood pressure and bleeding are steady, and with a written summary in hand.
Your Haematologist
Meet CION's haematologist. One specialist for your blood report and your plan.
Dr. Basudev Pokhrel reviews blood counts, transfusion needs and blood disorders, and works with the CION tumour board on blood cancers.
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Where to find us
Our centres in and around Hyderabad
Addressed by landmark, because that is how this city navigates. A haematology consultation can be booked at any of these centres through one helpline, and your team will tell you where each test or treatment takes place.
Warangal
Vizag
Sources
- National Cancer Institute — Infection during cancer treatment
- NHS — Sepsis
- Cancer.Net — Fever
- Blood Cancer UK — Blood Cancer UK
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
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Not sure where to go right now?
If it is an emergency, go to the nearest hospital or call 108 first. For anything else, call the helpline and our haematology team will help you decide the next step.