Welcome to the Department of Blood Transfusion
The Department of Blood Transfusion is managed by the Haematology Service, with laboratories at both the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) and University Hospital Llandough (UHL).
The Blood Transfusion Laboratories at both sites complete a wide range of tests to include Automated and Manual methods for Blood Grouping, Antibody screening and identification, Crossmatch, DCT and identification of coating, and detection of C, c, E, e and K antigens.
Manual techniques, performed only at UHW, include Kleihauer, further antigen detection, and Cold agglutinin screen.
The blood transfusion departments hold stock of blood components such as red cells (blood), platelets, fresh frozen plasma (FFP), and cryoprecipitate and various blood products such as albumins, immunoglobulins, prophylactic anti-D, and specialised coagulation products.
Our services include, but are not limited to, supply of blood and blood components/products internally (within Cardiff and Vale) to include our Major Trauma Centre (MTC), Emergency Department (ED), general and specialised Intensive Care Units (ITU, CITU, NICU), Medicine, Immunology, Surgery, Clinical Haematology, Oncology, Obstetrics and Paediatrics including the Children’s Hospital for Wales (CHfW).
Externally we supply blood and blood components/products to; Velindre Cancer Centre (VCC), Marie Curie Hospice, B Braun Renal Dialysis Units, Barry Hospital and the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS).
The department is a UKAS accredited Medical Laboratory No: 8985.
Our ISO 15189 accreditation is limited to those activities described on our United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) schedule of accreditation (8985 Medical Multiple). This accreditation is maintained during an annual assessment by UKAS.
The Blood transfusion department is also regulated to the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations (BSQR) and Good Practice Guidelines by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)