NBTS in dire need of all Blood types

Dec 31, 2016 News

-despite conscious efforts to sustain stock

The National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS), the country’s national blood bank, is currently in dire need of blood. This is according to information disseminated yesterday by the institution which is situated in the compound of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
A GPHC official confirmed yesterday that the blood stock at the Blood Bank is depleted.
But while all blood types are needed, the official said that the need for the ‘O’ negative type is the most critical. An appeal has therefore been made for voluntary donors to donate blood.
The appeal for blood comes on the heels of the Ministry of Public Health’s revelation that the NBTS has been fervently working to recruit an adequate amount of safe voluntary non-remunerated blood donors and to maintain an adequate buffer stock to respond to all blood transfusion needs of all hospitals in Guyana.
According to Junior Minister of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, at the Ministry of Public Health’s year-end press conference yesterday, “our vision is to ensure that the blood is used to improve a person’s health and we want to ensure that safe blood in its appropriate form is administered when needed.”
Last year, the Blood Bank collected 9,656 units of blood. The total collected up to November is 9,566. But according to Minister Cummings, by the end of this month the department is expected to achieve the country’s target of 10,000 units. She said, “The year 2016 had a favourable start with a total of 2,018 in the first two months in comparison to a slower start in 2015 with a total of 1,756 for the two months.”
However, despite this effort, from all indications, it was not enough to ensure a sustained stock of blood to meet the needs of the nation.
Minister Cummings said that during the course of this year, the NBTS, in an effort to improve the blood banking process, took measures to reintroduce the Hospital Transfusion Committee at each of the Regional and Private Hospitals. The basic transfusion guidelines were shared with the various facilities and each was encouraged to establish and upkeep a functioning committee.
The Junior Public Health Minister said that “action has been taken to review all the standard operating procedures, safety and quality manual and all controlled documents used in the Blood Bank.
“Currently, the Blood Bank follows the Caribbean Regional Standards for Blood Banks and Transfusion Services.”
The system, the Minister explained, also covers product identification and traceability, storage, distribution and transportation even as she informed that “we also actively partake in external quality assessments on a regular basis to constantly validate our competency, skill and accuracy.”
Added to this, she noted that there has also been technical support via the Argentine Government through the South –South Cooperation.
In the quest to improve the blood banking process too, Minister Cummings said that the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) had facilitated an online immuno-heamatology course which covered pertinent topics such as quality management and antibodies identification, transfusion practices, and blood group systems.
In this regard four persons participated – two from the Blood Bank and two from the Georgetown Hospital Lab Compatibility Department.
In an attempt to determine the national blood need, Minister Cummings said that steps were taken to collect and analyse statistical data from the regional and private hospitals in relation to blood requests and actual blood transfusions along with diagnoses of patients and blood types. “This information should be able to reveal which is the most popular diagnosis requiring blood, which is the most frequently used blood group, etc.,” she noted.
According to the Minister too, the Blood Bank along with its four regional branches have been reaching out and sending invitation letters to various organisations, business entities and institutions inviting them to host blood drives.
“We have also continued to use our existing tele- recruiting to call back donors and encourage them to become regular voluntary donors.”
All units collected, according to Minister Cummings, are screened on a daily basis with a 24- hour turnaround time. She added too that dedicated staff would work late evenings and weekends to facilitate blood drives.
“Laboratory staff cooperates tremendously with screening on demand at any time if an emergency or need arises,” informed Minister Cummings.

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