National supply issue with blood tube products
August 13, 2021
The NHS has been notified of supply disruption in relation to blood tube products. In order to balance demand across the NHS, guidance has been issued to optimise blood testing and avoid disruptions to urgent clinical care.
Please review the guidance and take appropriate action.
Point of care haemoglobin devices to be used where possible
– Ensure staff use point of care devices have been appropriately quality assured for haemoglobin measurement, eg in critical care and theatres, instead of using EDTA tubes.
Minimum retest intervals
– Follow the guidelines related to RCPath minimum retest intervals to avoid over-testing
for items such as B12 and thyroid disease.
Encourage add-on testing to reduce the need for blood tube usage
– Encourage add-on testing by clinicians ordering tests.
Optimise inpatient and assessment unit sampling
– Only test for a clinical indication in patients and increase the testing interval for monitoring where it is clinically safe to do so.
– Keep testing levels under active review.
– Avoid routine group and screen testing unless patient likely to require transfusion.
Genomics testing
– Genomics is a high priority in the testing of unwell neonates, prenatal screening and cancer diagnosis. Stock should be used for these tests and should be prioritised accordingly to allow these tests to continue uninterrupted.
Reduce non-essential (non-clinically urgent) testing
For more information, read the guidance or talk to your clinical lead if any concerns or queries.