World Sickle Cell Awareness Day 2025

Find out more about sickle cell and the work NHS England are doing to improve the care of patients in a sickle cell crisis.

Sickle cell is a serious inherited blood disorder predominantly affecting people of Black African and Black African Caribbean heritage. A gene mutation causes red blood cells to become irreversibly curved, or sickle shaped, which can lead to haemolytic anaemia, or a sickle cell crisis, when damaged red blood cells block vessels and restrict oxygen supply.

This can lead to strokes and sight loss. People often endure severe pain and need hospital admission so they can be given effective pain relief and treatment to prevent organ failure that can be fatal.

The NHS is supporting better care for patients across England by encouraging clinicians to ACT NOW whenever a patient attends hospital in a sickle cell crisis.

The ACT NOW acronym reminds clinicians to:

1. Analgesia – give analgesia within 30 minutes, in line with NICE guidance.
2. Compassion – be compassionate, kind and actively listen.
3. Test/trigger – give blood tests and understand what triggered the crisis.
4. Notify – notify the specialist haematology team.
5. Oxygen – offer oxygen supplementation if saturation is <95% in room air.
6. Watch – watch and keep warm.

eLearning modules for healthcare professionals:

Healthcare professionals in the NHS are being encouraged to take part in the Sickle Cell Disorder National Education Programme which consists of several related modules. The programme focusses on improving clinical knowledge of Sickle Cell Disorder (SCD) to enable healthcare colleagues spot the signs of a sickle cell crisis and learn more about how it should be treated. This will help them provide excellent care to a patient group with complex needs.

Find out more about sickle cell, including symptoms, causes and diagnoses, on nhs.uk website.