Audit in transfusion practice

Given the growing concern for the safety, cost and adequacy of blood supply, there is an increasing need for appropriate blood product utilization. Despite a number of consensus guidelines for the transfusion of allogeneic blood products, inappropriate blood transfusion continues. We discuss the quality assurance process for improvement in transfusion therapy including audit of blood transfusion. Audits identify areas of problems in transfusion practice which can be corrected by education of doctors, formulation of practice guidelines and algorithms. To improve the effectiveness of the audit programmes, the frequency of audits has to be maintained and there should be continual reinforcement of policies.