Implementation of a continuous quality improvement programme in transfusion medicine

The transfusion safety is one of the themes of National Quality Assurance Programme 1995/1996 (National Agency far the Promotion of Medical Evaluation -ANDEM/Direction des Hopitaux (National Hospital Authority)). The Quality Assurance Programme (QAP) in transfusion medicine of our University Hospital has been selected. The QAP is a prospective and normative programme, in which all the actors of the transfusion process are involved. The goals are: i) to assure the quality and the safety of the blood products delivered all along the chain leading to blood or blood components transfusion; ii) the guarantee of the exhaustiveness and the quality of information about the transfusion process that are used to mark out blood products; iii) the standardization of the different steps and the creation of <<tools>> in order to control the application of written procedures.