NPSA guidance on emergency blood transfusions

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has issued a Rapid Response Report (RRR) to reduce delays in the provision of blood to patients who need emergency transfusions.

The guidance, which was issued to all NHS organisations across England and Wales, was drawn up following 83 patient safety incidents between October 2006 and September 2010 where the patient suffered after not receiving blood quickly enough in an emergency. Eleven of these incidents resulted in death.

The RRR requests that NHS hospitals:

• Outline the roles of all clinical teams and laboratory staff in local protocols
• Develop a “trigger phrase” to quickly alert laboratory staff when a patient suffers a massive haemorrhage, to allow them to prepare to administer a transfusion
• Investigate all incidents where there has been a delay in providing blood, and report the incident to the NPSA and the Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT) scheme.