Blood on demand: a roadshow experience

Between February 2006 and January 2007, the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) received more than 24,000 reports of patients who had been identified incorrectly and mismatched during episodes of care. Reducing and, where possible, eliminating these misidentification errors is central to improving patient safety. Although many of these errors result in little or no harm to those involved, they can be distressing for patients and staff alike. Some adverse incidents, however, can result in serious, lasting harm such as chronic pain, undiagnosed cancer and, in the case of some blood transfusion errors, even death. 

The use of hospital wristbands as a means of positive patient identification is recognised as a key factor in preventing adverse incidents, but more needs to be done to improve their effectiveness. Despite the fact that the use of hospital wristbands is a common feature of the protocols in most hospitals to ensure patients receive the correct and medication, serious incidents still occur. This led in July 2007 to the NPSA issuing its Safer Practice Notice Standardising wristbands improves patient safety to all NHS organisations in England and Wales. 

The Safer Practice Notice recommended action to standardise wristbands across the NHS by July 2008 and that NHS organisations must be able to generate and print all patient wristbands from hospital demographic systems such as PAS (Patient Administration System) by July 2009. Against this backdrop, Olympus UK, a healthcare company with a long tradition of improving patient safety, recently held a series of patient safety roadshows across the UK for healthcare professionals designed to highlight how innovative, high-tech solutions are now helping to improve patient safety.