Quality Audit Towards Improvement of Transfusion Services: An Institutional Assessment

Abstract

Introduction: Maintaining quality in transfusion services is a vital cogwheel of Quality Management System (QMS) in a hospital to impart safe blood to the patients. Quality Indicators (QI) play a pivotal role in quality management as they dispense imminent information regarding the execution of transfusion services and could help in utilizing QI as a benchmark for safe quality of blood. Less is known about the authentic utilisation of QI in hospitals. Aim: To assess the comprehensive quality performance of the blood center and evaluating the five obligatory QIs as per National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) and make necessary suggestions for refinement of the same. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the blood bank attached to RL Jalappa Hospital, Tamaka, Kolar, Karnataka, India. The five compulsory QIs, as defined by NABH, were noted and monitored on monthly basis, from December 2019 to December 2020. The particulars were collected in a methodical outline and root causes for any deviation were assessed. Accordingly, particular corrective and preventive measures were taken. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) v22 software. Results: The mean transfusion reaction rate was 0.18 in patients, with a highest value of 0.9 noted in the month of March-2020; there was no transfusion reaction at all in the month of February, April, June, July, October, November and December-2020. The mean wastage rate was 12.9. The maximum wastage was noted in August-2020 (21.7%) and was least in October 2020 (7.2%). Turnaround Time (TAT) was <30 minute for emergency cases with a mean of 27.11 minutes. For routine cases mean TAT was 140.9 minutes. Conclusion: Stringent enforcement of quality indicators, as mandated by NABH, can help in preventing errors in transfusion services. This, in turn, helps in maintaining a better quality and performance of the blood bank.