Launceston General Hospital has become the first in Australia to adopt a new blood labelling standard and integrate with the National Blood Authority's BloodNet system, cutting the time it takes to receipt blood products by 75 per cent.
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In what's been described as a "game changer" for the hospital's pathology department, the integrated system has significantly streamlined the processes associated with receipting blood products on arrival.
As Northern Tasmanian Pathology Service scientist in charge of haematology Michael Morse explained, the interface makes the process of receipting blood that arrives at the hospital a now one-system task.
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"We, like every other hospital in Australia, order our blood products through BloodNet and this is a separate system from our Laboratory Information System," he said.
"So basically whenever we were receiving blood products we were managing them twice in two separate systems.
"The interface now makes this a one system task and also incorporates the new global ISBT128 standard, and we are the first hospital in Australia to have this capability and the new labelling standard.
"This is essentially a 75 per cent saving in time in receipting blood products over our old laborious system and the chance of errors or issues is significantly reduced."
Mr Morse said the system meant staff could now respond more quickly in times of high blood product use, such as a trauma, and also restore blood inventory levels more quickly.
"For us, it's a massive time saver," he said.
"We are appropriately staffed, but when you are dealing with increasing workloads, it means that you are constantly moving around and the potential for a mistake is much higher.
"So something like this, instead of an hour you are spending 15 minutes - that's 45 minutes you have to work on other things."
Describing pathology as an essential part of the LGH's operations, NTPS laboratory manager Gerald Bates said the system was already making a huge difference.
"The significant majority of diagnosis is supported through pathology testing. So When you come in to the hospital, or you go to a GP, they want a result back quickly, to help confirm their diagnosis" he said.
"So more or less every patient that hits the health service has diagnostics done, through pathology.
"We know the hospital more broadly is under pressure.
"We deal with a lot of work, as best we can, but any smart move like this saves time and allows staff who are under pressure to do other tasks - it's going to make a huge difference."
Jessica Willard
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
