A project will soon be starting to implement an electronic patient identification, tracing of blood components and bedside transfusion management system for blood transfusions.

This will provide controlled access to locked Blood Bank fridges via a touchscreen system, and there will be hand-held personal digital assistants (PDAs) with bar code scanner and portable printer as part of bedside blood transfusion management.

The new system will increase patient safety and ensure the Trust adheres to national blood quality regulations and standards. It will ensure cold chain requirements are met, reduce wastage of blood and improve transfusion traceability.  The electronic patient identification will enable greater efficiency by reducing the time before the blood transfusion can start, compared with manual checking processes currently requiring two members of staff.  Users will also have access to real time blood tracking information.

Before the system goes live early next year, staff who work with transfusion bloods will receive training to update previous guidance, and details of this will be communicated in due course.

More information will be available as the project gets under way but if you have any questions now, please email Michelle Lake, Blood Transfusion Specialist Nurse, at Michelle.Lake@cht.nhs.uk.