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Welcome to the Summer TPN Newsletter
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 2020 has been an interesting year for us all. COVID-19 has been in the forefront of all our thoughts, particularly those of us living and working in Victoria. Thankfully we seem to have the rate of infections back under control. The other Australian states and New Zealand have done well to keep numbers low.
It has been a year of learning for us all, whether that be ways of working while social distancing or coming to terms with various apps, such as Zoom or Webex, to help us stay connected.
As we move into the holiday season please remember our TPN colleagues who live and work in areas of the world that have not been so fortunate.
Wishing you a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.
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Transfusion United was a two-day virtual event held in September of this unforgettable year. The event was co-hosted by Royal College of Pathologists Australia (RCPA), and the associated Quality Assurance Programs, Heamatology in Obstetrics and Women's (HOW) Health collaborative and Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion (ANZSBT).
The days were set up with a main program and an exhibition hall. The main program had excellent speakers, both local and international, covering a range of subjects. A number of our TP colleagues presented. Bev Quested on the Blood Book, Linley Bielby on the TP role today, Christopher Corkery on haemovigilance in the Waikato region.
In the Exhibition Hall, you could talk to the presenters about such things as the National Blood Supply contingency plan, Lifeblood's audit tool for health services, and provide feedback and commentary on two new guidelines from ANZSBT; Guidelines for the prescription of Blood and Blood Products by Nurse Practitioners and Guidelines for the implementation and use of Electronic Medical Records for Transfusion.
This was a great opportunity to get together during a period where we were unable to physically meet.
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New Clinical Transfusion Refresher Course
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BloodSafe eLearning Australia has released a new course, Clinical Transfusion Refresher 2 (EMR), for healthcare professionals who prescribe, order and transfuse patients in a hospital that has, or intends to implement, electronic medical record (EMR) systems. It follows a case study and covers the principles of safe transfusion practice and safety precautions when using EMR systems.
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Based on clinical guidelines, evidence-based material and expert consensus opinion this course has been developed in collaboration with leading transfusion medicine experts in Australia. This course can be used by individuals and organisations to assist with improvements in clinical transfusion practice and the NSQHS Standard 7 education requirements.
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Lifeblood has been collecting plasma from donors who have recovered from COVID-19 to make a therapeutic product. These donors have developed antibodies against COVID-19 that could help other patients with active disease. Currently this plasma is being used in two ways; to provide plasma to CSL Behring to make a COVID-19 immunoglobulin, or processing as a plasma unit to be transfused.
Plasma units are being used in two clinical trials to assess their efficacy: the Australasian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT) and an international Randomised, Embedded, Multifactorial Adaptive Platform Trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia (REMCAP).
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Street art - graffiti with facial mask on the wall during the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Warsaw, Poland. Photo by Adam Nieścioruk on Unsplash.
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New Blood Management Dashboard
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A new project at the Townsville Hospital and Health Service (Queensland, Australia), that is aligned to the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standard 7 Blood Management, is set to reduce errors in labelling blood samples. The project has developed a positive patient identification (ID) specimen collection dashboard that allows easy access to compliance data on scanning patient ID bands for specimen collection.
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Scanning is an inbuilt safety mechanism of the electronic medical record; staff scan the patient ID band and positively confirm the patient identity before printing labels for the specimen tubes. Overriding of the scan function is not recommended, except in some exceptional circumstances, and the ability to monitor overrides allows the team to identify areas in need of further assistance and education.
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Since the dashboard went live in August 2020, the team have seen a reduction in wrong-blood-in-tube events that could lead to critical results being missed, delays in diagnosis and/or inappropriate treatment regimes. There has been an observed reduction in mis-identified patients, unnecessary phlebotomy, reduced processing time in pathology and an improvement in the ability to measure compliance with best practice.
The establishment of the positive patient ID specimen collection dashboard was a collaboration between the Townsville Hospital and Health Service Haemovigilance Clinical Nurse Consultant, Pathology Queensland, the Blood Management Committee and the clinical informatics team.
Congratulations on a great safety initiative.
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The Australian Haemovigilance Report containing data for 2017-18 produced by the National Blood Authority was released in July this year and contains data from all jurisdictions.
The New Zealand Blood Service provide an Annual Haemovigilance Report that includes including donor related events.
In four jurisdictions of Australia (Victoria, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory), transfusion related events can be reported to the Serious Transfusion Incident Reporting (STIR) scheme. An Annual Report is available with case studies and recommendations for improved practice.
In the UK, the Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT) haemovigilance reporting scheme has been in place since 1996 and is a well-developed scheme reporting on a range of transfusion related events.
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New BSH Guidelines - Irradiation
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In October 2020, the British Society of Haematology released updated Guidelines on the Use of Irradiated Blood Components. The aim is to provide clear guidance on situations when the use of irradiated components is indicated. The multidisciplinary writing group developed evidence-based clarification and practical guidance in clinical areas of ambiguity.
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ISBT 2020 congress goes virtual on 12-16 December this year. The congress will feature live and on-demand sessions, a virtual exhibition, workshops and much more. You can register here.
Future congresses:
31st regional congress of the ISBT, Milan, Italy, June 5-9, 2021
32nd regional congress of the ISBT, Brisbane, Australia, November 13-16, 2021
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Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
Victoria
Tasmania
South Australia
Western Australia
Northern Territory
Queensland
New Zealand
New Zealand Blood Service
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood
ANZSBT Council
BloodSafe eLearning Australia
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Maria Burgess
Penny O'Beid
Christine Akers
Dawn Richardson
Anne Canty & Amanda Catherwood
Angie Monk
Susan Dalkie
Susan Kay
Liz Thrift
Fiona King
Bev Quested
Liz Thrift
Trudi Verrall
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