Assessment of Safety Measures and Practices of Health Care Personnel in Governmental Blood Banks of Tanta City, Gharbia Governorate

Background: Blood Bank (BB) is an important component of the healthcare system of a country, saving lives and improving health of cases through the provision of safety blood and blood product. The safety measures in BBs refers to policies and procedures designed to provide a safe, sanitary, and comfortable environment for blood donation and reception. Safe practice of health care personnel is crucial to prevent spread of blood born infection among them and the community. Aim: this work aimed to evaluate safety measures applied in governmental blood banks of Tanta city and to assess practices of health care personnel in these blood banks. Methods: This cross-sectional research has been carried out on governmental blood banks in Tanta city responsible for donation and preparation of blood and its products and including health care personnel (HCP) working in these blood banks. Data were collected using a validated sheet of Ministry of Health and Population (Infection control practices- Assessment tool for blood banks). Data were collected through direct observation of the environment of each blood bank and also observation of practices of HCP during both day and night shift. Each blood bank was visited at least two times per week for a period of six weeks covering morning and night shifts. Results: The study revealed that all standard safety measures were applied totally in both lab and donation areas of the studied blood banks except presence of any educational material, leaflets, posters but there were standard operating procedures (SOP) in two blood banks only. At storage areas of the studied blood banks there were no inventory list with expired dates and no record of time door opened of refrigerators and freezers. At donation areas, there was statistically significant difference regarding the age, sex and level of qualification where good practices of HCP were observed among young aged male with high level of qualification. At lab areas, there was statistically difference regarding the practices of HCP and the age only where good practice was noticed also among young workers. Conclusions: It was found that safety measures were nearly fulfilled in donation and lab areas but the safety practices of HCP in both donation and laboratory areas not performed well especially among elderly. So, we can recommend the importance of health education and continuous training with closed supervision from infection control team during work for all health care personnel. Also, emphasis on importance of presence of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and availability of educated materials (leaflets, posters…etc.) at all activity areas in the blood banks.