Evaluation of bedside electronic transfusion checks (BETC)

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Evaluation of benefits and cost-effectiveness of implementing bedside electronic transfusion checks (BETC) at Barts Health NHS Trust.

  • IRAS ID

    311676

  • Contact name

    Laura Green

  • Contact email

    laura.green27@nhs.net

  • Sponsor organisation

    Queen Mary University of London

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 6 months, 30 days

  • Research summary

    Between 2022 - 2025 the current bedside transfusion manual system at four hospitals at Barts Health Trust (BHT) will be replaced with bedside electronic transfusion checks (BETC). It is expected that the BETC will not only improve patient’s safety, but also (1) reduce incorrect sample-labelling for identification of blood grouping, (2) save staff time and (3) Improve traceability of blood components.
    Despite the above potential advantages with the use of BETC, its benefits to patients, healthcare professionals, and healthcare providers have not been quantified previously. As healthcare expenditures are rising worldwide, policymakers and healthcare providers need to ensure that the healthcare systems are able to achieve the highest quality of care with good value for investment.

    Implementation of BETC also provides a huge opportunity for BH to utilize transfusion data in a more innovative way, by creating an efficient method of linking patient data within hospital databases at BH to test current and novel transfusion strategies with immense benefits for patients. Being able to collect real time data on timing when blood transfusion was started would allow us to better evaluate its impact on clinical outcomes.

    The implementation of BETC at four hospitals at BH is an excellent opportunity for us to evaluate the effectiveness and value for money of this technology at BH in comparison to the manual blood transfusion system that most hospitals currently use in the UK.

  • REC name

    North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    22/NW/0138

  • Date of REC Opinion

    16 May 2022

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion