RISKY BLOOD

Precautions being deliberately ignored in Australian public hospitals generate "mistakes"!

Blood transfusion protocols are being shunned in some hospitals, posing a potentially fatal threat to patient health, a conference has heard. Errors include people being given the wrong blood, mislabelling of blood samples and unrecognised bacterial infection from transfused blood.

To combat the problem, Australia needs to follow England's example and establish a national blood protocol-monitoring body, said Dr Lorna Williamson, a transfusion consultant from Britain who addressed a hematology conference in Melbourne. "Hospitals are very busy places and there's a lot going on and less than perfect habits creep in," she said.

Dr Williamson co-founded the Serious Hazards of Transfusion scheme (SHOT) in Britain, which monitors the number and types of mistakes made along the transfusion supply chain in hospitals.

More here

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation.

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