NHS Connecting for Health to Pilot IT Specification for Blood Safety

September 22, 2006 // Published as a news service by IHS

The specification was developed by the NPSA  in conjunction with the National Blood Transfusion Committee and the Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT).

It is based on work carried out for NHS Connecting for Health's Do Once and Share Blood Transfusion Project.

The pilot, due to begin by March 2007, will test and develop the IT specification for blood tracking. Money is available to help fund the appropriate technology, manage the work and formally evaluate the pilot.

SHOT data shows that between 1996 and 2004, five patients died as a direct result of being given ABO incompatible blood. ABO incompatibility contributed to the deaths of nine patients and caused major morbidity in 54 patients.

The NPSA set a target of reducing the number of inadvertent ABO incompatible transfusions by 50% over three to five years from January 2005 as measured by the SHOT database.

The IT specification is one of four initiatives that have been tested and developed as part of the NPSA's Blood Safety Project. When finalised, all four initiatives will be shared with the NHS and other relevant organisations in an NPSA Safer Practice Notice. This will specify actions related to the initiatives that NHS organisations in England and Wales should put in place to help reduce ABO incompatible transfusions.

The IT specification focuses on the steps in the transfusion pathway. It is appropriate for use with bar coding and radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies, builds on the experience of users of the different systems currently available and addresses the patient safety risks identified in the transfusion process.

The specification will inform the work of NHS Connecting for Health and of commercial companies that produce hardware and software. In developing the specification, the traceability requirements of the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations have been incorporated.

An information pack with full details of the pilot, including its scope, objectives, deliverables expected, reporting arrangements, resources and how to apply formally will be available in September.

Source: Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT).