Practices and attitudes towards quality assurance, inspection and accreditation in blood collection establishments in the European Community

Abstract

In the framework of a European Community (EC)-supported project, a survey of practices and attitudes towards quality assurance, inspection and accreditation in Blood Collection Establishments (BCEs) in the EC member states was carried out. Analysis of 352 responses to a structured questionnaire revealed a preference for national standards over international, and an introspective and reactive view to quality management. Four broad categories of operational performance in relation to safety were formed: initial, repeatable, managed and optimising, with the majority of responses (209) being characterized as initial. Although a direct relationship between the size of the BCE and the range and level of quality management practices is apparent in the data, further analysis shows that small BCEs have much higher ratio of personnel per blood unit collected/processed than large BCEs and thus seem to have an inherent potential for improvement. Overall, a clear preference for inspection and accreditation by professional peers at the national level was indicated.

Emergency uncross‐matched blood transfusions in a tertiary neonatal unit

“…In neonatal care, uncross‐matched O‐negative blood is prescribed only in emergency situations and randomised controlled trials regarding their effectiveness have not been performed. There is a lack of national and international consensus on the utilisation of neonatal ERBTs, and the production of a single set of ERBT guidelines has not been possible . The Irish National Blood Users Group guidelines for the administration of blood components to infants under four months highlight the responsibility of each individual institution to provide an internal protocol regarding ERBTs .…”

Introduction of EUBIS standards to upgrade inspections of blood establishments to improve the safety of blood transfusion: The Polish experience

“…Unification of the implemented standards may be supported by joint inspections performed by representatives of various organisations 21 . Lately, much attention has been focused on the differences between BEs regarding QA implementation, inspection and accreditation systems and despite the effort, the BE approach is still heterogenous 22–24 . Although EUBIS has already been implemented in many EU countries, it is not yet possible to compare the results of inspections in Poland with the results of inspections in other countries; no publications on this issue are currently available.…”