Pilot site: Mayday NHS Trust
Croydon Health Services (Mayday) NHS Trust was chosen by NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CFH) to pilot an Electronic Blood Tracking System to further improve the safety of blood transfusions.
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust has been evaluating the blood tracking from the point of view of:
- its effectiveness for managing blood
- reducing the likelihood of errors in blood transfusions
- the potential applicability to other areas of healthcare delivery.
A full independent evaluation of the Mayday NHS Trust pilot is being undertaken to ensure that the process is mapped, the views of all users are taken into account, and the recommendations and lessons learnt are accurate and useful.
The pilot used passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in patients' wristbands to enhance the final patient identification check before transfusion.
There are a number of benefits to be gained by the deployment of the electronic blood tracking system, including a reduction of inpatient safety incidents, automated checking of information, a reduction in number of samples discarded by the lab and improved traceability of blood/blood products.
Dr Hilary Lumley, Consultant Haematologist, Mayday NHS Trust, said: "We are very pleased to have been chosen to host this pilot. Our current system relies on the skills and training of our staff to carry out a whole series of checks and we have a very good safety record.
"However this new technology aims to improve patient safety even further and we are keen to support any system which makes transfusions safer for the hundreds of local people who need them each year."