Work Package 4:
Informatics

 

1.4 million units of blood are donated each year by NHSBT donors, more than 96,000 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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There has been a lot of proposed investment in NHS digital infrastructure during the lifetime of this programme of work. We will interface with local and national programmes of work looking at digital connectivity within the NHS and support, advocate for and inform decision making at the highest level  to facilitate the outputs of this programme, transfusion interoperability and to allow NHSBT to predict future demand for blood more effectively, improving the management of blood stocks and donations.