Quality management in blood establishments

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

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The competent authority (CA) responsible for external inspections of Polish blood establishments (BEs) and supervision of the quality system is the Institute of Haematology and Transfusion Medicine (IHTM). Before the implementation of the European Blood Inspection System (EuBIS) classification of non-compliance, the IHTM inspections were conducted according to national guidelines and the non-compliance-related recommendations were based on the inspectors' own experience and interpretation of the observed problems. Since 2009, IHTM inspections were already performed according to EuBIS guidelines. The study assessed the impact of the EuBIS classification on the IHTM recommendations. We assumed that the implementation of consistent assessment criteria contributed to the upgrading of the quality of BE inspections.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

BE-inspection protocols; 30 from 2009 to 2010 and 61 from 2016 to 2019. Non-compliance-related recommendations were classified according to the seriousness of non-compliances (critical, major, other significant, and observation) and also to the area of BE activity (documentation, organisation of work, qualification and validation, pathway from donor qualification to blood component-issue, quality control of blood components, adverse events and reactions).

RESULTS

The recommendations mostly referred to document-keeping and work organisation and were distributed as follows: 2009-2 critical (others unclassified), 2010-1-13 major, 4-25 other significant and 1-7 suggestions, 2016-2019-3-9 critical, 90-196 major, and 157-297 other significant as well as 14-22 suggestions.

CONCLUSION

Polish BEs still require: integrated document management, analysis of IHTM recommendations, implementation of corrective and preventive measures and personnel training in identifying similar non-compliances in other procedures.

Implementing SLMTA in the Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service: lessons learned

Background: The Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service (KNBTS) is mandated to provide safe and sufficient blood and blood components for the country. In 2013, the KNBTS National Testing Laboratory and the six regional blood transfusion centres were enrolled in the Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation (SLMTA) programme. The process was supported by Global Communities with funding from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Methods: The SLMTA implementation at KNBTS followed the standard three-workshop series, on-site mentorships and audits. Baseline, midterm and exit audits were conducted at the seven facilities, using a standard checklist to measure progress. Given that SLMTA was designed for clinical and public health laboratories, key stakeholders, guided by Global Communities, tailored SLMTA materials to address blood transfusion services, and oriented trainers, auditors and mentors on the same.Results: The seven facilities moved from an average of zero stars at baseline to an average of three stars at the exit audit. The average baseline audit score was 38% (97 points), midterm 71% (183 points) and exit audit 79% (205 points). The Occurrence Management and Process Improvement quality system essential had the largest improvement (at 67 percentage points), from baseline to exit, whereas Facilities and Safety had the smallest improvement (at 31 percentage points).Conclusion: SLMTA can be an effective tool for preparing a blood transfusion service for accreditation. Key success factors included customising SLMTA to blood transfusion activities; sensitising trainers, mentors and auditors on operations of blood transfusion service; creating SLMTA champions in key departments; and integrating other blood transfusion-specific accreditation standards into SLMTA.

Quality control of leucocyte-depleted platelet concentrates obtained by buffy-coat method

OBJECTIVES

Quality control results on leukoreduced buffy-coat platelet pools during the 7-year period (2005-2011) are presented with the aim to assess their overall quality and trends recorded during the study period.

METHODS

Data of the Quality Assurance Department, Croatian Institute of Transfusion Medicine were used in the study. Measurement results of all study parameters are presented for the entire study period, while the rate of controlled platelet pools consistent with the specified quality requirements is additionally presented for each study year.

RESULTS

The mean component volume was 50 ± 9 mL per 6 × 10(10) platelets (91.5% of conformable results), mean platelet count 7.81 ± 1.26 × 10(10) per single unit equivalent (97.5% of conformable results), mean leucocyte count 0.01 ± 0.08 × 10(6) per single unit equivalent (99.6% of conformable results), and mean pH 7.45 ± 0.16 (99.4% of conformable results). Bacteriologic testing showed negative result in 99.8% of tested components.

CONCLUSION

Study results indicated the results of platelet pool quality control to be highly conformable with the specified quality requirements. It is illustrated how simple interventions in the preparation process can have significant impact on product quality improvement and thus on redefining quality requirements.