Nod to blood storage centres in pvt hospitals

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For the first time in the State, the Health Department has given permission for private hospitals to start blood storage centres. Till now the permission was given only to the Government hospitals and the Government-owned blood banks.

"Though sanction has been given to only one private hospital in Chalakkudy now, many private hospitals have applied for the same,’’ M.Geetha, State Drugs Controller told Express. The State Drugs Control Department is the licensing authority for the blood storage centres and also the blood banks in the state.

 The governing body meeting of the Kerala State Blood Transfusion Council decided to sanction blood storage centres in private hospitals following which the Government has now issued orders.

 The sanction for the storage centres is being given by the Drugs Control Department after a series of inspections. The licence is issued after ensuring that all the criteria mandatory for the centres are met.

 To apply for the permit, a hospital should have the facilities such as an area of 10 square metres, separate air-conditioned room, blood bank refrigerator, cross-matching equipment, technician and a blood bank medical officer. The permit has to be renewed after a period of two years.

 Though no minimum amount of blood units to be stored has been made mandatory in these centres, it has been ordered that the storage should not exceed 2,000 units of blood in a year.

It has also been made mandatory that the blood from these storage centres should be given only to the patients and not to the hospitals. For the patients who are collecting blood, there is no need to give  replacements.

 There has been a huge demand for giving sanction for the blood storage centres in the private hospitals. However, the Health Department did not take a final decision on this all these years as it was concerned over the safety of the blood being stored in such centres. Now the Department has decided to make surprise checks in the centres to ensure better safety of blood.  

BLOOD TRANSFUSION VANS

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has provided 15 specially-designed blood transfusion vans for the state. The vans, which had already reached the state, will be deployed in all the 14 districts. One van will be kept at the Kerala State AIDS Control Society (KSACS).

 The van will be utilised to collect bloods from the donation camps being held in each district and will be distributed to the nearest blood banks and the blood storage centres.