Work Package 4:
Informatics

 

1.4 million units of blood are donated each year by NHSBT donors, more than 84,000 of which are used to treat patients with sickle cell disorder

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At present blood is allocated to patients manually according to type using a combination of electronic and paper systems, in NHSBT and in hospitals

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This allocation will need to be automated for a matching algorithm to work effectively, because it will not be possible to search manually for units of blood from a specific donor.

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We will develop the interfaces necessary to connect hospital and NHSBT computer systems to allow them to interoperate so that the safe and accurate allocation of extended antigen matched blood is possible. 

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Automatic connection between hospitals and NHSBT will allow NHSBT to predict future demand for blood more effectively, improving the management of blood stocks and donations.