Quality assurance standards for blood service establishments in South Africa are assessed under an ISO accredited national standard for medical laboratories by the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) organisation.
WCBS continues to excel annually in every assessment, with full SANAS accreditation, to effectively operate under chief professional and ethical standards, and ensure that patients receive blood products and services of the highest quality.
WCBS Blood Banks follow strict criteria for sample collection, requests for blood components and/or investigations, compatibility testing, selection and issue of blood products for transfusion, irradiation of blood products, re-issue of whole blood and red cell concentrates, urgent requirement for blood and transfusion complications. We strive for continuous improvements guided by feedback from patients, blood users and hospital staff.
WCBS blood products comply with exact specifications for haematocrit, leucocyte count, platelet count, pH, total protein content, Factor VIII concentration, fibrinogen count, anti-T titre, volume, and undergo rigorous quality testing including microbial tests and visual inspection for any abnormalities. Product rejects are monitored regularly to identify trends and make improvements to the quality of blood products. For more information about WCBS blood products and services, click here.
WCBS blood products undergo mandatory donation testing for transfusion transmissible infectious agents, ABO/Rh grouping, allo-agglutinin titre and testing for the presence of irregular antibodies. Blood products are strictly only released for transfusion after all mandatory testing is completed. WCBS performs individual donation testing on every blood donation every time a donor donates. WCBS first-line tests include: HIV-1/2 antibodies, HIV RNA, hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis B DNA, hepatitis C antibodies, hepatitis C RNA, and Treponema pallidum antibodies or antigen. Second-line/confirmatory tests include: HIV p24 antigen, HIV-1 (group M and group O) antibodies, HIV-2 antibodies, hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis B surface antibodies, IgG and IgM antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen, antibodies to hepatitis B envelope antigen, hepatitis B envelope antigen, hepatitis C antibodies and Treponema pallidum antibodies and antigen.
WCBS blood products are processed under strict criteria that pertain to all aspects of production, such as containers for components, transport and storage of blood donations prior to processing, component separation procedures, storage and transportation of blood components after processing, storage facilities, component identification, expiry dates and times, and labelling of containers.
All WCBS laboratory equipment is calibrated and inspected regularly, and will be removed if not suitable for use.
WCBS follows stringent rules for blood donor selection to ensure that individuals are in good health and follow safe lifestyles to be able to donate blood. The whole blood and apheresis collection procedure is also regularly vetted to ensure donor safety.
Acronym: International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)
For more information about WCBS quality assurance programmes, contact Ntombozuko Mbombo, Manager — Quality Management System (Ntombozuko@wcbs.org.za) for assistance.
