Novel POCT transforms decision-making

The laboratory and cardiac teams at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital are taking part in a pioneering point-of-care (POC) interventional study, using Stago UK’s Quantra system to improve transfusion decisions in cardiac surgery. The objectives are to improve patient safety, deliver appropriate treatment, and reduce the unnecessary use of expensive blood products.

Jayne Parkes, principal clinical scientist for haematology, is leading the clinical governance aspects of the study and puts patient safety at the top of the laboratory’s agenda. She explained: “In preparation, the laboratory has already carried out a real-time verification study on the Quantra. This compared the core precision of critical parameters between laboratory and point of care in the interests of patient safety, and to help enable accreditation to ISO 15189. 

“The positive outcomes of the study have enabled the laboratory to demonstrate to clinical colleagues that there is a good correlation between point-of-care and accredited laboratory results. There is no point in risking patient safety by giving unnecessary blood products if we can provide data that better informs medical decisionmaking when a critical bleed occurs.”