Building better hospital transfusion committees for Ontario

Hospital transfusion committees can be instrumental in ensuring appropriate blood utilization and that best practice standards are followed. In Ontario, Canada, the provincial Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Blood Programs Coordinating Office has implemented several initiatives to support these multi-disciplinary hospital committees to fulfill their mandate. The primary goal is to improve patient safety and the secondary goal is to reinforce the importance of appropriate use of blood components and blood products. Recognizing the challenges in developing a fully functional hospital transfusion committee, several initiatives have been launched to provide educational resources and tools to achieve a successful outcome. The number of hospital transfusion committees in Ontario has increased over the past 5 years. Attendance at the annual educational forum for transfusion committees continues to be high. The majority of hospitals are using the resources and tools being provided. More work is needed to achieve the success of this strategy.