NHS Blood and
Transplant (NHSBT) must continue its work to improve services
ensuring that blood supplies are used appropriately, efficiently
and safely, a Department of Health report published today states.
With growing pressures on the NHS and in line with the wider NHS
reforms, the recommendations in the Commercial Review are designed
to ensure that the Department of Health and NHSBT work together to
maximise opportunities for efficiencies, allowing more money to be
made available for frontline patient care.
Recommendations made in the report include:
NHSBT continuing to work with trusts to minimise waste and
improve management of blood supplies; Exploring opportunities to
improve efficiencies by closer working across the four UK Blood
Services; and, Maximising efficiencies wherever possible – for
example purchasing specialist equipment.
The report also cites recent findings that, despite improvements
in the way that hospitals use blood supplies, around one in five
blood transfusions are given when it is not clinically necessary.
Public Health Minister Anne Milton said:
“NHS Blood and Transplant is one of the most trusted parts of the
health service, and is commended for the efficiencies it has
already achieved. However, the review shows that further
improvements can be made – improvement that health professionals
want and patients need.
“The review gives us a real opportunity to make a difference to a
service that is relied upon across the country. I would also urge
hospitals to look at the recommendations and see how they could
improve their use of blood to both improve the care of patients
and save unnecessary expenditure.”
NHSBT Chief Executive Lynda Hamlyn, said:
“We are delighted that the findings of the review endorse our
unique and valuable role in saving lives through voluntary
donation and that despite speculation in the media there are no
recommendationsto privatise NHSBT. We will continue our work
to improve our services at least cost to the taxpayer.
“We are working in partnership with trusts to identify ways we
can better improve the management of blood and blood products
within hospitals – so that we make best use of the voluntary
donations from our 1.4 million donors. We plan to pilot a number
of different models in the coming year and are confident we can
improve performance and deliver further efficiencies to reinvest
in frontline patient care.”
Following this review, a set of NHSBT pilots will be launched in
early 2012. These new sites will be working in partnership with
NHSBT, focussing on specific areas highlighted in the review to
improve the blood and transplant service, including better stock
management and a joint transfusion laboratory partnership.
Notes to Editors
1) For media enquires about the Commercial Review of Blood and
Transplant, please contact the Department of Health newsdesk, on
020 7210 5221. 2) A copy of the Review can be found on the
Department of Health website, by following this link:
http://www.wp.dh.gov.uk/health/2011/10/nhs-blood-and-transplant/
3) NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is a Special Health Authority
in the NHS. It is the organ donor organisation for the UK and is
responsible for matching and allocating donated organs. Its remit
also includes the provision of a reliable, efficient supply of
blood and associated services to the NHS in England and north
Wales. 4) The Review was an outcome of the Department of
Health's review of arm’s-length bodies (ALBs), which
concluded that there were strong arguments for retaining the
majority of NHSBT’s functions within a single national system.
However, it also concluded that there may be opportunities for
more cost-effective operations and commercial arrangement within
the divisions of NHSBT, such as contracting out some discrete
functions, provided there was no conflict with public health
considerations in relation to quality, safety and consistency
across the blood, tissue and transplant services.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/@ps/documents/digitalasset/dh_118053.pdf
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk