Documentation of consent for blood transfusion

In 2012, 110 hospitals reported on consent policy against national guidelines, with 105 (95%) including a statement on blood transfusion. Of the 103 hospitals (1788 transfusion episodes) that participated in the consent practice component, 89 specified the method of consent used; 46 (52%) had a specific transfusion consent form and achieved compliance of 90% compared to 43-69% for most other methods. The consent audit shows that a specific blood consent form achieved a high rate of medical record documentation compliance.