§ Mr. HavardTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when the National Blood Service education programme for transfusion medicine will be published. [123385]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe National Blood Service (NBS) has no plans to publish an education programme for transfusion medicine.
The NBS provides training for scientific and medical staff in hospitals and has recently identified the need to train hospital nurses and midwives in various aspects of transfusion medicine. NBS is currently discussing these training requirements, which will include training on the appropriate use of blood.
The NBS is also establishing a network of transfusion liaison nurses who will facilitate training in collaboration with similar staff in national health service trusts. This initiative is part of the NBS response to Health Circular HSC 2002/009, "Better Blood Transfusion—Appropriate Use of Blood", which is available at: www.doh.gov.uk/publications/coinh.html