Connecting for Health

The NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CFH) Programme is introducing computer systems into the NHS to improve patient care and safety and provide an environment in which patient centred information can be easily and quickly shared by clinicians.

The Do Once and Share (DOAS) Programme sits within Service Implementation as part of the overall NHS Connecting for Health Programme. Its goals are to help the service to develop a common approach to common clinical disorders and procedures, thus creating national consistency in approach.

The DOAS Blood Transfusion Action Team brought together the knowledge and experience of the existing local and national initiatives already in progress by inviting the key stakeholders in Blood Transfusion to contribute to, and quality assure, the output of the DOAS Blood Transfusion Project. This project had the full backing and representation from the National Blood Transfusion Committee, National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), SHOT, DH Blood Policy Unit, SPOT, National Blood Service and Operational Impact Group.

DOAS documents were supplied to the Connecting for Health Technical Office to form part of their updated Output Based Specification (OBS). The National Patient Safety Agency based its electronic clinical blood transfusion management system (ECTMS), which was included in its ‘Right Patient Right Blood’ initiative, on the work carried out by the DOAS blood transfusion project.

Connecting for Health and the NPSA are working together with the Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust on a pilot of the ECTMS

Professor M F Murphy