A data-enabled programme of research to improve transfusion practices

Our proposed research is about “How can we better use data in transfusion?” Blood transfusion is a common procedure carried out in hospitals; nearly 2 million blood components are transfused in England at a cost of over £300 million/year.

Used to best effect, these play a vital role in saving lives, but repeated analyses show large gaps between recommended and actual transfusion practice. Unnecessary transfusions put patients at risk of adverse effects and are a waste of a limited resource. In addition, blood services often find it difficult to predict how much blood hospitals need.

This results in both wasted blood and a risk that the best type of blood component may not always be available for a patient needing a transfusion. Our patient and public involvement group highlighted all these issues.

We want to ensure that the right patient safely receives the right blood component for the right reason at the right time.

Data-driven approaches, using actual data at all steps in the transfusion chain, offer ways to improve transfusion practice, such as feeding back data to clinicians about their practice or using computer systems to assist clinical decisions. Up to now there has been limited research in this area.

Our aim is to develop a fully linked electronic system from the blood donor to the patient recipient, to monitor and improve use of blood.

We will research the effects of electronic systems to improve transfusion practice, for example, to support clinicians to request blood only when needed, and to use alternatives to transfusion when it is right to do so.

We will also examine how real-time data can prevent late delivery of blood to hospitals and cut wastage (the supply chain).

Therefore, we plan overlapping research work-packages: Using hospital data to understand and address variations in blood use in hospitals; Using electronic systems to improve the sharing of information between hospitals and blood services for improving the blood supply chain; Using data from hospitals and GP practices to develop electronic tools to improve the outcomes for patients who might need transfusion; Investigating the costings of different pathways and processes for transfusion, given the need to understand how any electronic systems deliver value-for-money.

Our team have developed new ways of introducing electronic (paperless) processes for hospital transfusion, including ordering of blood, include experts in using data, and work in supply chains in the Blood Service. We will work alongside our donor and patient groups. Our work will build capacity for new researchers.

We are strongly committed to sharing our findings with transfusion teams in all hospitals, including those with less developed electronic systems. We will work with colleagues in national networks, including the National Blood Transfusion Committee.