Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Management and Operations of Transfusion Medicine: Planning, Policy and Leadership Issues

Health care includes supportive services such as laboratory, radiology and blood transfusion. To manage blood supply centres and hospital blood transfusion services, leadership development is paramount. In 2000, a post-academic Master course for Management of Transfusion Medicine (MMTM) was initiated, focused on restricted economy countries. E-learning has become a common approach in teaching and training in many parts of the world. However, there are still limitations of which some are difficult to influence and eliminate, because they are an integral part of less developed societies in different parts of the world. E-learning packages are increasingly being promoted as an effective way of delivering training, but they have still not penetrated the clinical transfusion practice. Most clinicians have little knowledge of the risks and benefits of supportive haemotherapy, illustrating that the importance of adequate knowledge and competence of blood prescribing clinicians is still not well recognized.E-learning has found its way into the field of blood transfusion. However, audits of clinical transfusion practice have consistently demonstrated deficiencies in knowledge and practice that impact on patient safety and in some cases, result in death. This paper focuses on bridging the knowledge gap in management and operations of transfusion medicine from the perspectives of planning, policy and leadership issues. Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Management and Operations of Transfusion Medicine: Planning, Policy and Leadership Issues