Podcast- Guidelines for the specification, implementation and management of IT systems in hospital transfusion laboratories-Julie Staves

Since the last version of the BCSH (British Committee for Standards in Haematology) Guidelines for Specification, implementation and management of  Information Technology (IT) in hospital transfusion laboratories was published1 there has been continued development in IT applications for use in transfusion medicine. IT has made a major contribution to blood safety throughout the transfusion chain, and there is increasing use of IT solutions to allow laboratories to meet some of the challenges of the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations (F24) SI 50/2005 (as amended) legislation 2, such as traceability. These guidelines update those published in 2014, to reflect new developments. Further requirements such as the provision of extensively genotyped matched red cell units have also been addressed.