An audit cycle of blood ordering practice in a district maternity unit reduces unnecessary crossmatching.
We audited the appropriateness of blood ordering in our obstetric unit, by analysing the ratio of number of units of blood cross-matched to number transfused (C:T ratio), both overall and for specific indications. Based on this information, we devised a new blood ordering policy, and repeated the audit once this was in operation. The new policy resulted in a substantial increase in the efficiency of blood ordering. The overall C:T ratio fell from 10.9 to 3.0, and there were particularly large falls for caesarean section (from 34.3 to 6.2), high risk labours (from 67.8 to 9.1) and post-partum haemorrhage/retained placenta (from 4.3 to 1.9).
Department of Anaesthesia, Bellshill Maternity Hospital, Lanarkshire, UK.
G J
GJ
Wardall
V A
VA
Clark
H
H
Graham
E M
EM
McGrady