KOLKATA: Waiting in serpentine queues at blood banks will soon be a thing of the past as the system is set to go online, with the state health department planning to introduce e-requisition of blood. An orientation training on e-requisition software was held for representatives of all the 73 state-run blood banks at Swasthya Bhawan on Friday. Under the existing system, when patients require blood, their families have to stand in queues at hospital banks with requisition slips and blood samples. If the required units are not available in the hospital bank, they have to run from one facility to another. But once the system goes online, the application will go straight from the hospital’s ward to the hospital blood bank. If the unit is not available there, the application will be sent to other banks, like the Central Blood Bank at Maniktala. “Once the online requisition system starts, it will not only spare patients’ families the harassment but also rationalise blood supply,” said a blood safety official at Swasthya Bhawan. For example, if a patient needs 4 units of blood, the hospital bank can directly ask with the ward whether two units were enough for the moment and the remaining two could be sent later. This would prevent wastage of blood. Once the software is in place, an alert will be sent to the registered mobile number of the patients’ families about the availability of blood units. The first phase of training on how to use the software on e-requisition and e-tendering of blood at the state’s health headquarters was attended by doctors and technicians. To be implemented in phases, the pilot project is about take off at Calcutta National Medical College (CNMC). “The ground work is prepared to run the pilot project. This is a great, patient-centric initiative,” said Sandip Ghosh, medical superintendent and vice-principal at CNMCH. Once the pilot project takes off, the health department plans to implement it in Kolkata hospitals and expand it to facilities in the district. Later, it will be taken to private nursing homes and private blood banks. “We will check for glitches at CNMC and rectify them before going all out,” said a senior health official. D Asish, an activist, said, “Online requisition will also eliminate blood racket. But more blood donation camps have to be held.”
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/no-more-queues-blood-requisition-set-to-go-online/articleshow/74408777.cms
