Background: Knowledge of blood utilization can assist clinicians in directing patient blood management (PBM) initiatives and can facilitate demand planning by blood services. We describe a national study of red blood cell (RBC) utilization in England and North Wales in 2014.
Study Design And Methods: All hospitals that are supplied with blood components by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) were asked to provide data on the age and sex of all recipients of transfusions of RBCs, and the clinical indication for every unit transfused, for two separate weeks in 2014. Clinical indication categories were derived from those used in previous studies in an English region. Completeness of data collection was checked against NHSBT issue and wastage data.
Results: Data on 46,111 RBC units were collected, representing 73% of all RBCs issued by NHSBT during the weeks surveyed. A total of 67% of RBC units were transfused for a medical indication, with 27 and 6% being transfused for surgical and obstetric/gynecologic indications, respectively. For comparison, figures from a study in the North of England in 2009, on which this national study was based, showed that 64% of RBCs were transfused to medical patients. All but 20 units could be ascribed to a broad clinical heading, for example, "gastrointestinal bleeding."
Conclusion: Our findings confirm the previous regional finding that the percentage of RBC units that are transfused to surgical patients in England and North Wales is now much lower than for medical patients and suggest that PBM initiatives should now focus on medical patients.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/trf.13342 | DOI Listing |
NIHR Open Res
January 2025
Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England, L69 7BE, UK.
Background: PROTECT ( Platform Randomised evaluation of clinical Outcomes using novel TEChnologies to optimise antimicrobial Therapy) has brought together a team of researchers to design a platform trial to rapidly evaluate and adopt into care multiple diagnostic technologies, bringing immediate benefit to patients. Rapid diagnostic tests will be used to identify patients at risk of deterioration from severe infection, before they become critically unwell. The platform will assess their comparative clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness relative to current standard of care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublic Health Pract (Oxf)
June 2025
Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Objectives: Private healthcare is a rapidly growing industry in the UK, particularly for surgical procedures, due to extensive waiting times in publicly funded health care. The NHS also commissions private healthcare to provide procedures for NHS patients to alleviate waiting times. We aimed to explore the trends and geographical variations between the North and South of England in privately funded and NHS-funded privately delivered orthopaedic procedures compared to NHS waiting times.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Med
January 2025
Department of Oncology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Background: The clinical translation of positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers for cancer management presents complex challenges. We have developed consensus-based recommendations for preclinical and clinical assessment of novel and established radiotracers, applied to image different cancer types, to improve the standardisation of translational methodologies and accelerate clinical implementation.
Methods: A consensus process was developed using the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method (RAM) to gather insights from a multidisciplinary panel of 38 key stakeholders on the appropriateness of preclinical and clinical methodologies and stakeholder engagement for PET radiotracer translation.
J Public Health (Oxf)
January 2025
Centre for Applied Health & Social Care Research (CARe), Robert Winston Building, Broomhall Road, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S10 2BP, UK.
Background: Local decision-makers lack granular data on the prevalence of chronic pain in their populations. We applied matching methods to generalize estimates from one local survey in England to other neighborhoods across the country with a similar sociodemographic composition.
Methods: We used propensity score matching to match lower-layer super output areas (LSOA) across England with 230 surveyed LSOAs in North Staffordshire by age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, and rurality.
Acta Neuropsychiatr
January 2025
Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Objective: Accelerated ageing indexed by telomere attrition is suggested in schizophrenia spectrum- (SCZ) and bipolar disorders (BD). While inflammation may promote telomere shortening, few studies have investigated the association between telomere length (TL) and markers of immune activation and inflammation in severe mental disorders.
Methods: Leucocyte TL defined as telomere template/amount of single-copy gene template (T/S ratio), was determined in participants with SCZ ( = 301) or BD ( = 211) and a healthy control group (HC, = 378).
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