We have a British national coming to South Africa for a sports tournament. He has a haematological condition and may require irradiated blood in the event of injury. Will a tourist be eligible for an irradiated blood transfusion on a private basis, what is the turnaround time for this request, and is there a specific process to be followed when ordering irradiated blood?
Yes, as blood is a prescribed minimum benefit, blood and blood products must be available to all individuals who require a blood transfusion, as prescribed by the treating clinician.
WCBS has two X-ray blood irradiators that are in operation at our largest blood banks situated at Groote Schuur and Tygerberg Hospitals. In addition to this, pre-irradiated blood units are kept at various WCBS blood banks to avoid delays. The blood bank turnaround time for irradiated blood products is two hours, depending on product availability. View blood bank turnaround times here.
It’s advisable for the clinician to clearly mark the blood request form, ‘Foreign Patient’, so as to alert WCBS to expedite cost recovery of the blood products and services supplied for them. Usually, the doctor’s rooms will request a quotation (including payment particulars) from the WCBS Hospital Liaison Officer (hayleya@wcbs.org.za) for use during the informed consent discussion. However, the invoice is created 48 hours after blood products and services have been supplied, and is sent to the address provided in the blood request. Payment is due 30 days from the invoice date.
On another note, here is a reminder about some of the clinical indications for irradiated blood:
• All transfusions from first degree blood relatives.
• Intra-uterine transfusions.
• Exchange transfusions.
• Congenital immuno-deficiency states i.e. Di George Syndrome, Wiscott Aldrich and SCID.
• All recipients of allogeneic bone marrow transplants (BMT) or peripheral blood stem cell transplants from the time of initiation of conditioning chemo/radiotherapy. This continues while patient is on GVHD prophylaxis or lymphocytes > 1 x 109/L.
• Patients undergoing stem cell harvesting for later autologous reinfusion.
• Granulocyte transfusions.
• All patients with Hodgkin’s disease.
For other indications and more information about irradiated blood products see the ‘Clinical Guidelines for the Use of Blood and Blood Products in South Africa’ Sixth Edition, Chapter 7, or contact Dr Caroline Hilton, Lead Medical Consultant (Caroline@wcbs.org.za) for assistance.
Send your questions to the WCBS Customer Service Officer (info@wcbs.org.za).
