For safer blood management in the NHS we must reduce blood loss, unnecessary use, and improve matching and tracing of blood from donor to recipient, writes Cheng-Hock Toh
The Infected Blood Inquiry’s final report, due in spring 2024, signals a welcome shift towards better blood management for patients. Chief scientific officer of NHS England Sue Hill recently announced pioneering blood group genotyping for inherited anaemias, which should help patients receive better matched blood.1 And in 2022, the national medical director of NHS England Stephen Powis wrote to Trust medical directors recommending the wider use of tranexamic acid to reduce bleeding in surgery.2
In the UK, blood is used to provide lifesaving support for around 3500 patients each day,3 but mistakes with transfusions recur, despite numerous warnings from the NHS central patient safety alerting system. The number of deaths related to blood transfusions has more than doubled since the covid-19 pandemic4 and the Serious
EXCLUSIVE: Stocks of blood type O negative have nearly fallen to the critical two-day supply level in England. The NHS aims to maintain six days of stock for all blood types.