pluto

we use Diamed cells 0.8% I am interested in how long in days you can use these after "starting "the vials There is no guidance in the package inserts on this I am looking to commence auditing this to see how long the vials last before they are exhausted or insufficient to go on analyser Currently on anaylser all day and then back into fridge and out again etc Even when insufficient for analyser may still use for ad hoc manual tests as required Is there a recommended or suggested time period for use of screening cells when opened ?

that also is easy to understand so lets hope they make it official

we would keep no more than 48 hours will be interesting to see what the consensus is on this

At first I thought 3.1 was seniors and above then I though it was head of dept due to definition of career framework level 7 and now I am back to seniors and above Senior or Specialist Healthcare Scientist (Stage 6). These are HCSs with a higher degree of autonomy and responsibilitythan practitioners performing a complex scientific/technical role and/or managing/supervising a team. A senior or specialistHCS performs a highly complex clinical, scientific or technical role and supervises a team. Specialist HCS will include clinical scientist in first post registration job who perform a complex clinical and scientific role. Advanced Healthcare Scientist (Stage 7). An advanced HCS will have developed skills and theoretical knowledge to a very high standard and will be performing an in depth highly complex role, and continuously developing clinical, scientific or technical practice within a defined field and/or has management responsibilities for a section/small department, or be largely involved in research and development seehttp://www.dh.gov.uk/en/publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4123205 depends on what you mean by " team " in 6 or "section / small department" in 7 Had a member of staff attend the NEQSAS meeting in Birmingham yesterday where this document was on the agenda so perhaps will be wiser soon thanks

Few queries 3.1 The collaborative recommends that all staff at career framework level 7 This is not the same as agenda for change band 7 so I interpret this as head of dept , is that correct ? Which leads to 3.6 A senior member of staff, as defined in recommendation 3.1 will be available to provide appropriate specialist transfusion advice during non-core hours. This may require local collaboration with other hospitals and trusts. Surely this does not mean solely head of dept but also includes others who have qualifications as outlined in 3.1 Does 1.5 To help facilitate compliance with the BSQR 20054 the collaborative recommends that blood transfusion laboratory lead biomedical scientists will be excluded from the following: The staff establishment required for core hours service provision The rota for non-core hours service provision if there is any impact on core hours availability Clash with 3.4 In order to maintain competency for non-core hours working, lead biomedical scientists will complete the equivalent of 10 working days per annum lone, autonomous or independent working in a hospital blood transfusion department and also meet recommendation 1.5 above. Or is this saying you can work out of hours as long as it is a Friday night or Saturday so you still be available core hours Mon- Friday regards pluto

Hi Does anyone know how much this scheme costs ???

I think we are all going to agree on this one

Have to agree with Rashmi and Malcolm you can't just do your own thing in the miiddle of the night unseen , if everyone did their own tweaks to procedures we would have chaos and errors I would suggest 1: reassess why you are separating the serum anyway , there is a risk transferring to a secondary sample container with ID misidentifcation 2. 10 mins does seem excessive for just separting serum but you will have to go through the change process ! I know chemistry spin for 10 mins but that is for "Gel " clotted samples to ensure gel forms correctly between cells and serum 3. I seem to recall Ortho Biovue giving recommendtions on spin speeds for samples as they were seeing weak reactions on RhD typing as cells were stuck together due to excessive centrifugation

Grading of risks for incident forms Low Moderate High What would you consider would be good examples of each ? Low : not signing fridge chart daily as stated in sop, not entering unit into stock which is found later, missed sample rejection found by second checker ? Moderate :significant errors found in lab but not gone out of lab ie antibody misidentification found on checking. XM labels transposed but found before issue- same patient but wrong donation No Leaving expired units in stock fridge ? High : , wrong blood issued, red cell antibody not detected, any reported misgrouping, leaving expired units in issue fridge available for collection I think I am ok with Lows and highs ? but more moderate examples needed

conditional formatting is fun once you have cracked how to do it spent hours one day conguring a spreadsheet for mandatory training , green if trained in last 12 months and red if greater than 12 months and amber if on month 11. you can also set it to compare to current date ie date you open sheet If memory serves me right you can have three rules whcih means three colours per column / row google conditional formatting and you will find examples of how to do it

IBMS website forum

Do you mean false negative results , if they hammer them on the bench the agglutination breaks up

I would not be happy either - interestingly the MHRA who inspect blood banks in the Uk have issued the following clarification on a similar subject - patient merging see http://www.transfusionguidelines.org.uk/Index.aspx?Publication=REGS&Section=23&pageid=1370 I agree with you new sample if different hospital No , better 1hr delay than to be dead through a transfusion mismatch

Thanks Rashmi for that info My heart skipped a beat when you had earlier mentioned Agar plates I like that KISS acronym never heard that one before

Thanks easy to remember as well as u in anti-Ku I read means universal

This is a really good site I know you have publicised it on the IBMS site and it has been publicised in the North West of England I have emailed all our depts staff perhaps something in the BBTS newsletter along with other educational sites and the IBMS gazette itself for those who don't log on

thats ok , you are correct of course I was laughing at work earlier having read Issitts 4th Ed which llustrated the point you made regarding anti-K ( see I am getting better) with a comment regarding "anti-Kell" where the reply to someone using anti-Kell in the lab was that I did not know there was an antibody against the whole whole Kell blood group system . I think I will use anti-big K next time we pick one up and see if anyone asks me what I am doing only quick reply last time as other half and kids came home and they would not be happy that dad having been at work 9 hrs on a bank holiday saturday was still on a work related website Must go now as youngest coming out of bath and oldest watching and jumping about watching " Primeval " - dinosaurs etc for non-uk residents also dad wants to watch "Britains got Talent"

I would say anti-Kpb

I wonder if Mrs. Kellachers family today know of her interesting transfusion background? Her name will be always in transfusion books and labs across the planet

I am probably guilty myself one of the problems is how you communicate these verbally I have never heard anyone say anti-big K its always anti-Kell If I said anti-K1 there would be puzzlement can't remember what we used to call anti-M is it anti-M for Martha and anti-N for Nancy AB = apples and Bananas O= Oranges etc etc and other more funny ones used only internally in the lab

Would you not lose foetal cells in the washing process ?? also would the foetal cells not be at the top just underneath the buffy coat , I may be wrong but I thought with centrugation the old cells go to the bottom and the new cells go to the top ? A correctly mixed sample is hence essential or you will get falsely low or negative results ie under reported foetal bleeds

Hi Marion I am sure the transfusionguidelines website is familar already but they have some good docs on validation on there http://www.transfusionguidelines.org/index.asp?Publication=REGS&Section=23&pageid=504 http://www.transfusionguidelines.org/index.asp?Publication=REGS&Section=23&pageid=1214 also of course the bcsh guideline website http://www.bcshguidelines.com/publishedHO.asp?tf=Blood%20Transfusion&status= good luck

I would guess we are all struggling with gmp presenations I am still waiting for the GMP e learning package to appear on the learnbloodtransfusion.org site which as you know is availlable in the uk Perhaps one of their modules will be on couriers I would contact the NBS they should be the experts on gmp for couriers

Has anyone guidance on cleaning blood fridges Obviously need to empty contents How often do you do it ? Do you switch fridge off or leave on ? Do you take samples for microbilogy ? thanks

I agree with you , no one is infallible everyone will at some point make a mistake - hopefully systems in place will prevent it being a big one