Review calls for improved patient identification systems for blood

BMJ 1999;318:692 ( 13 March )

News

Review calls for improved patient identification systems for blood

Susan Mayor , BMJ
The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Unique patient identification systems are being recommended in a report from a steering group of all professions involvedin blood transfusion in the British Isles, in response to a reviewshowing increased reports of incidents involving incorrect componentsbeingtransfused.

The Serious Hazards of Transfusion group $---$ which includes representatives from eight Royal Colleges plus other professionalbodies $---$ has suggested that funding should be provided to evaluateand develop computerised blood issue and innovative patient identificationsystems to improve patientsafety.

The recommendation has been made in the group's annual report published this week, after 112 hospitals in a voluntary surveyof 424 hospitals reported a total of 197 adverse incidents involvingblood transfusion for the year ending September 1998. Most ofthese (110 cases) were described as "wrong blood to patient" incidents,representing an increase from the previous year's 81incidents.

The participating hospitals reported nine deaths directly attributable to all complications of blood transfusion, . . . [Full text of this article]