News
Dorset County Hospital selects Avery Dennison barcode tracking
system for blood samples
20 March 2008
Dorset County Hospital has selected the Tervia blood-tracking system
from Avery Dennison Corporation to improve the accuracy of tracking
blood samples, reduce human error and improve patient safety.
The Hospital is rolling out the system across all eight of its sites,
beginning this month. The system is expected to be fully operational by
June this year.
Hospitals frequently encounter inaccuracies when identifying patients
and matching them to their intended treatment. Avery Dennison developed
the Tervia blood-tracking system due to the demand from hospitals for a
more accurate method of tracking blood samples.
In 2005, the EU introduced The Blood Safety and Quality Regulations
2005 which stated that all hospitals must have a blood recording
mechanism in place, though it did not specify that this must be an
electronic recording system. Very few hospitals have implemented a
technology-based recording mechanism, leaving room for human error.
Errors are commonly due to incorrect labelling of blood samples by
staff members, which can lead to patients receiving the wrong blood type
and is therefore potentially fatal. If a sample is rejected due to human
error a second sample must be taken, causing further discomfort to the
patient and extending the process.
 Tervia
guards against such human error by using a unique barcoding system. The
system allocates each patient an individual barcode, which is printed
onto their admission wristband. The patient's barcode can then be
scanned using the hand-held terminal (see photo on right) each time
blood is taken or received.
The terminal then prints a label containing the patient's details,
which can be attached to the blood sample. Once blood is allocated to
the patient it is then possible to track the blood unit and match to the
patient at any stage of the transfusion process; thus ensuring that the
right patient receives the right blood.
The hand held scan and print terminal works within a wireless
environment. However, Avery Dennison are currently working closely with
Dorset County Hospital to provide a solution for its remote sites. The
system comes with a full support package, and training is taking place
to ensure a smooth change over.
Avery Dennison’s National Account Manager, Brian Roberts said, “Avery
Dennison is delighted to be working with Dorset County Hospital NHS
Foundation Trust to improve the efficiency of patient identification and
blood tracking. The Tervia system allows a patient and their blood to be
identified at the bedside using a barcoding system and the hand-held
terminals print function allows the user to label any samples, guarding
against human error.”
Dorset County Hospital’s Hospital Transfusion Practitioner, Tracey
Stevenson said, “We are really happy with the progress of the project so
far. We have had an awareness day, and the feedback from everyone who
attended that day was positive. We are looking forward to introducing
the system throughout the Trust and working in partnership with Avery
Dennison and our Community Hospital colleagues.”
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