An Audit to Assess the Impact of a Strategy to Reduce Inappropriate Red Cell Transfusions at Honiara Hospital

A blood transfusion committee was established at Honiara Central Hospital (HCH), a national referral hospital for the Solomon Islands to promote a rational, safe and cost-effective blood transfusion service and to audit the use of blood particularly in the perioperative context. Following the education strategy, a 29.7% reduction in the number of units of blood crossmatched as a proportion of total admissions was achieved as well as a 30.1% reduction in the number of units transfused per 100 operations. The failure of the education strategy to increase the proportion of 'group and hold' requests confirms the need for an integrated approach between the different hospital departments involved to ensure a fully satisfactory result.