Hospital Transfusion Committees, Clinical Advisory Groups, Haematology SAG

Will the Welsh Blood Service Medical Team be able to continue providing the same level of clinical advisory service to both existing customer hospitals as well as the new customer hospitals?

We do not anticipate any difference in the level of service provided. The Welsh Blood Sevice always has a Specialist Medical Consultant in Transfusion Medicine available on-call to answer any clinical queries.

Will the Welsh Blood Service Medical Team be able to continue providing the same level of representation to both existing customer hospitals as well as the new customer hospital HTCs?

The Welsh Blood Service endeavours to have Specialist Medical Consultant in Transfusion Medicine representation at every HTC.

In the rare event that HTC meetings take place at the same time, there will inevitably be difficulties in achieving this.

Will there be any compromise in quality or delay in the investigation of suspected bacterial reactions referred to the WBS?

We do not anticipate any compromise in quality or delay in turnaround times.

We’ve looked at the potential demand in North Wales and concluded that we will be able to meet this demand with our existing service levels.

Will the Welsh Blood Service be able to provide bespoke components as required?

The Welsh Blood Service will continue to provide bespoke components to meet demand and will import from other UK Blood Services if necessary.

Will the WBS be able to provide training support to Specialist Registrars and Biomedical Scientists as part of their respective training programmes?

We currently provide this support to staff within our existing customer hospitals, and this service will be extended across Wales.

Will there be any compromise in quality or delay in Immunohaematology/ante natal cases referred to the WBS?

We do not anticipate any compromise in quality or delay in turnaround times.

How will the Welsh Blood Service manage service provision for patients with complex transfusion requirements?

Currently the Welsh Blood Service utilises the support of other UK Blood Services when appropriate.

This process will continue on an all-Wales basis.

Do you envisage that the all-Wales Blood Service will experience an increase in blood shortages compared with those experienced in recent years?

All blood services experience shortages at certain times. The all-Wales Blood Service is likely to experience these shortages from time-to-time, however we work collaboratively with other blood services to maintain a stock of blood components and products to meet the demand of all customer hospitals.