Even with the most sophisticated haematology analysers, there are instances where evaluating the blood smear provides us with helpful and actionable clinical information that will have an impact on patient care and would otherwise not be detected. Often we are given prompts to evaluate the blood smear from our in house analysers, and there can be sample characteristics that may limit the accuracy of automated results. In this session we will cover the basics of blood smear evaluation, and some of the pitfalls and common problems encountered when making and analysing blood smears in your patients.

Learning objectives:

• Review the good (what is normal),
• Recognise the bad (what is abnormal) and
• Acknowledge the ugly (what should ideally be reviewed by a referral laboratory or needs auxiliary testing)
• Explore the future of in clinic blood morphology analysis