Non-urgent cases should ideally be seen by a specialist haematologist within two weeks. However, some cases may require immediate hospital admission. Patients with a possible CML diagnosis should be discussed with a haematologist to decide on the urgency of the referral.

Urgent admission to hospital for inpatient care, possibly including leukapheresis or plateletpheresis, should be considered for:

• patients with a WBC above 100
• patients with a platelet count below 50 or above 800
• men complaining of priapism (a persistent erection) or incipient priapism
• any features that suggest leukostasis – blurred vision, fainting, seizures, TIA-like events, any other unexplained neurological syndromes
• any other unexpected organ dysfunction or poorly controlled pain.