In order to bring in more accountability towards safer blood transfusion practices at the point of care, Mumbai based Breach Candy Hospital Trust (BCHT) has received NABH accreditation for its blood bank from Quality Council of India recently.  As of today, 60 blood banks have been accredited across the country of which nine are in Mumbai.    

Implementation of the NABH standards involves a process improvement exercise to rectify preventable error prone areas in the process of transfusing blood to the patient. The exercise is part of the hospital's patient safety steps based on WHO guideline to report, analyse and streamline systems with reference to preventable patient safety events.

The accreditation would ensure that blood requisition is done by a registered medical practitioner, grouping and collection is done by trained or authorised phlebotomist along with checking the identity of each blood sample, to ensure that blood is processed in the blood bank as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, proper documentation and issuance process is followed and a bed side check list is being implemented under the supervision of a trained personnel.  

The process improvement exercise for safe blood transfusion is a new concept in India. BCHT is also planning to launch a patient safety forum shortly to bring like minded stakeholders under one umbrella and orienting them towards patient safety.  

Accreditation is required for improving the quality of blood banks. The accreditation programme by NABH assesses the quality and operational systems in place within the facility. The accreditation includes compliance with the NABH standards, applicable laws and regulations including guidelines set by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

Studies into the transfusion process have provided evidence that errors do occur during these procedures, and that some of these relate to inadequate nursing interventions. The aim is that the hospital transfusion practitioners, working with lead consultants in blood transfusion and local blood bank managers, would be able to support practitioners in the safe and effective use of blood. It is also suggested that transfusion practitioners will be able to actively promote good transfusion practice by facilitating transfusion audit and feedback and facilitating incident reporting, following up any errors or near misses.

National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) is a constituent board of Quality Council of India, set up to establish and operate accreditation programme for healthcare organisations.

Wockhardt Hospitals, Ravi Hospital, Sir JJ Mahanagar Raktapedhi, Dr D Y Patil Hospital and Research Centre, Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital, SL Raheja Hospital, KEM Hospital and Matoshree Valbai Mulji Shah Arpan Blood Bank are the other blood banks which have been accredited by NABH in Mumbai.