Blood unit processing

The Licensed Clinician creates the blood unit record against the donation from which it came. The component type identifies what is being handled, while the accession number supports the team’s record matching. Record the collection time from the actual collection event. Before updating a unit, check its accession number and donation together so a similar component does not lead to the wrong record.

Blood units move through Ordered, Collected, Received and Tested as the corresponding work takes place. Rejected records a processing outcome that needs to remain visible. The unit’s state belongs to the unit record. Staff can review the donation’s screening evidence alongside it while keeping the collection and processing facts distinct.

• Collection entry. Record the component type, accession number and collection time with the donation reference. The Licensed Clinician marks the unit Collected when collection has occurred. Review an incomplete identifier before handing the record to the receiving colleague.
• Receiving handoff. The receiving team checks the intended unit and donation before the Licensed Clinician records Received. Use the Collected Blood Units screen to identify records still moving through that handoff and investigate a unit that appears to have stalled.
• Processing outcome. Record Tested after the applicable testing work and review have occurred under the team’s procedure. Use Rejected when the unit is rejected during processing. The Clinical Reviewer can inspect the unit together with donation-linked notes and laboratory observations.

Agree a consistent component vocabulary and accession numbering convention. Decide which person checks the physical identifier against the record during collection and receipt. Keep collection times consistent across the operating team so the recent collection evidence in Operations Overview can be interpreted without uncertainty about the reporting period.

Define the evidence your team needs before changing a processing state. Set up any laboratory connection with an explicit matching rule for donations and test observations. Keep clinical release decisions with the organization’s designated clinical systems and procedures. Agree who checks the laboratory evidence before recording the unit’s processing outcome.

Rehearse a unit collected from a scheduled donation and received later by another clinician. Ask the receiving colleague to find the accession number, confirm the linked donation and record the receipt. Open Operations Overview and compare the collection evidence with the working record. The people handling the unit should agree which event each state represents.

Then rehearse a rejection during processing. The Licensed Clinician marks the intended unit Rejected and checks that the Blood Unit Board still shows it in that state. Ask the Clinical Reviewer to trace the unit back to the donation and its laboratory observations. Resolve any ambiguous accession matching before importing a wider set of unit records.

• Blood Unit Board — Compare units by processing state with accession and donation details visible.
• Collected Blood Units — Follow units waiting for receipt or further processing.
• Operations Overview — Review unit intake, lifecycle distribution and recent collection evidence.

Rehearse blood unit processing and agree the laboratory connections.