Academy
Workshops on Quality and Safety Manuals in Ghana
Shirley Owuso-Ofori
National Blood Services, Ghana
Mavis Okyere
National Blood Services, Ghana
Training workshops were organized by the National Blood Service (NBS) for staff of three blood centres in Ghana with financial support from the International Society for Blood Transfusion (ISBT) Academy. In a quest to ensure an effective and coordinated approach, the NBS has made provision of safe, adequate and efficacious blood and blood products for transfusion in Ghana and have also developed the "National Strategy for Screening of Donated Blood and Immunohaematological Testing" guidelines.
The workshops aimed at contributing to national blood safety programme through; the use of appropriate tests systems, assays and methods aimed at consistently obtaining accurate and reliable Transfusion Transmissible Infection (TTI) testing results. Blood Safety Guidelines for Hospital Blood Banks have also been developed to guide the prescription, storage, compatibility testing, transfusion and monitoring of blood and blood components.
The training workshop was conducted to disseminate these two documents developed by the NBS. Each participant was given copies of the two manuals and other available handbooks such as the National Guidelines for the Clinical Use of Blood and Blood Products. Evaluation forms and quiz were administered at the end of each of each day's workshop.
The objectives were to:
- Ensure access to safe and adequate blood and blood products as a key objective enshrined in the current National Blood Policy (2020).
- Disseminate these two manuals nationwide via face-to-face training sessions to ensure accepted nationwide approach towards the selection, deployment of testing assays and methods as well as testing for blood groups and compatibility testing.
- Improve patient safety through appropriate use of blood and blood product and appropriate storage and transport of blood and blood component.
The achieved outputs were:
- Six staff from Three Zonal Blood Centres (ZBC) trained as Trainer-of-trainees.
- Two quality and safety manuals disseminated.
- Nationally coordinated approach to TTI testing at the Three Blood Centres.
The main speakers were namely, Dr. Shirley Owusu-Ofori, NBS CEO and ISBT Regional Director Africa, Dr. Dilys John-Teye, Acting Director, SZBC, Mavis Okyere, Quality Manager, SZBC, Sheila Allotey, Laboratory Manager, Roland Adukpo, Laboratory advisor and Agyeman Antwi Boateng, Principle Medical Laboratory scientist, kicked off the programme by reviewing the educational content.
Group photo training of the trainer workshop
Group photo at the North Zonal Blood Centre
The group of the 6 facilitators assigned to the speakers, the materials to be developed into training materials that were aided by PowerPoint presentations. The training documents were developed with the NBS manuals as reference material.
The train the trainers workshop was the first to be launched. The following day the Southern Zonal Blood Centre workshop (SZBC), was held in Accra. A total of One Hundred and Forty-Three (143) staff were trained over two days. Attendees were drawn from the SZBC, Ho Teaching Hospital, Eastern Regional Hospital, Koforidua, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and Effia Nkwanta Hospital, Takoradi. Other course participants were from transfusing facilities in Accra.
Group Photo of Southern Zonal Blood Centre
From 4th and 5th September 2023, a training workshop was held at the Northern Zonal Blood Centre (NZBC) at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, in Tamale, Ghana. A total of Fifty-Six (56) staff were trained at the NZBC workshop within two days. Attendees were drawn from the NZBC, TTH, Upper East Regional Hospital, Northern Regional Hospital as well others transfusing facilities both private and public in and around Tamale.
The last workshop session was held from the 12th to the 13th of September 2023, at the Central Zonal Blood Centre (CZBC), Eye Centre Conference Room, at the Komfo Anokye teaching hospital (KATH) in Kumasi. A total of Ninety-One staff (91) were trained in two days. Attendees were drawn from the Transfusion Medicine Unit of KATH and St John of God Catholic Hospital, Sewfi Asafo, Western North Region and other transfusing facilities in and around the Kumasi Metropolis.
In conclusion, a total of 303 participants were trained across the three blood centres over 6 days. All workshops were all successfully conducted and we thank ISBT academy for their support.
Group Photo Central Zonal Blood Centre
