Jammu, 12/Feb/2014: In a shocking reply to the RTI filed by RTI activist Deepak Sharma, the Government Medical College and Hospital reveled that a total of 1140 blood units were wasted in GMC Jammu in 3 years and 796 blood units wasted in SMGS hospital during the same period making a total waste of 1938 blood units in two premier Government hospitals of the city.
Sharing details, Deepak said that many times it is seen that people face many hardship for arranging blood for their patients as most of the time they are denied blood from the blood banks of hospitals and are asked to arrange blood for the patients at their own. Whereas citizens and volunteers throng blood donation camps and willingly part with their own blood with the noble intention of saving lives of others. To find the utilization of blood and functioning of blood banks in the hospitals he filed the RTI.
The Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu in reply to the RTI divulged that 183 units of blood discarded in the year 2011, jumping to the discard of 536 units of blood in 2012 and 421 units of blood discarded in 2013 in GMC. Whereas in SMGS hospital 235 units of blood discarded in 2011, 247 units discarded in 2012 and which rose to 316 units of discarded blood in 2013. The figures speaks volume of the wastage of the blood, which normally expires in 35 days from the date of its collection. It is also submitted that blood components which are prepared from a unit of whole blood and includes Red Blood cells, platelets and fresh frozen plasma are not prepared in GMC, as the hospital do not have the permission to prepare the components of blood due to paucity of machines and space. Also around 500 units of blood is given to other private hospitals and nursing homes of the state. Furthermore the SMGS hospital is waiting from the last 1 year to get its blood bank license renewed which expired in December 2012.
One of the major reasons for the blood wastage has been the absence of maintaining the temperature of blood units during its shifting from the blood bank to the recipient department or on receiving it back at the blood bank owing to its non utilization.
“There seems to be a lack of proper storage, handling facilities and qualified technicians at the hospital behind such a huge waste of precious blood and many of such units are destroyed by the blood bank because they had crossed the expiry date which could have been given to those in need of blood. “ said the activist. To save the blood from wastage the activist has appealed the Government to device a mechanism to inter connect all the blood banks of hospitals in the state where availability of blood units of various groups is updated regularly, so that those in need of blood can contact the respective blood bank and blood is used before its expiry . The activist also appealed to the government to conduct regular audit of blood banks to minimize the blood wastage.
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