Application of quality principles to managing donor services

Abstract

Introduction Blood donor services (BDS) consist of a variety of activities, processes and procedures that blood establishments (BE) carry out in order to provide adequate supply and the appropriate type of blood and components required for transfusion. Quality principles (QP) on the other hand is a comprehensive and fundamental rule for leading and operating an organization aimed at continually improving performance over the long term by focusing on customers while addressing the needs of the customers. The application of QP would increase the efficacy and effectives of the BDS.Application of Quality Principles BE as an organization needs to continually improve its performance by focusing on the needs and expectation of blood donors, the relevant authorities as the stakeholder, as well as the community in which it serves. Through appropriate awareness programmes for donor recruitment and providing a donor care service that meets their expectation will improve the supply and quality of blood to patients. Communicating these needs and expectations is crucial in order to establish good customer relation. Leadership in the BDS is necessary to provide direction, inspire and encourage all personnel to be involved in providing quality service. Full involvement of every individual would benefit the organization. In designing the processes in BDS due consideration must be given to the various steps, activities, workflow, critical control points, training requirement, equipment, methods and other resources to achieve its objectives and target. All the interrelated activities need to be managed as a system to improve efficiency. In order to continually improve its performance, BDS needs to monitor and evaluate its activities. Collection of information and good data allows objective evaluation and decision making. Clear understanding of the relationship between BDS and its suppliers would be beneficial.Conclusion QP can be adopted by BE to guide the organization towards better and improved performance. The principles of QP would certainly benefit the BDS to function as an efficient service provider in meeting the demand of the healthcare services that depend on a sustainable blood supply.