The national comparative audit of blood transfusion is run by the National Blood Service in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians.
The 2011 Re-audit of Bedside Transfusion Practice is scheduled for reporting by the end of October, and we launched on 5 September, an audit of the medical use of blood. This audit, set against previous audits that suggested that as much as 19% of prescribed red blood cells were given unnecessarily, looks at the prescribing decisions of physicians in a variety of medical settings. There will be a sequel to the audit, starting in January 2012, in which hospitals will be invited to investigate in more depth those patients who it was thought were unnecessarily transfused, and, separately, those who had a treatable cause of anaemia. Previous audits have suggested that patients admitted electively are being transfused when there was an opportunity to avoid transfusions via the management of anaemia.
To find out more about the National Comparative Audit of Blood Transfusion, contact: John Grant-Casey, National Comparative Audit Project Manager, telephone: 01865 440046.
Explore the NCBT audit on the Blood UK and transplant website
resources/clinical-resources/national-comparative-blood-transfusion-audit
- Related topics: Patient safety
