Australian Health Provider Blood and Blood Products Charter

The Australian Health Provider Blood and Blood Products Charter (Charter) is a document providing:

  1. An outline of expectations of a health provider in relation to blood and blood products derived from the Ministers’ Stewardship Statement (with the full Statement attached).
  2. An outline of specific service requirements and standards that a health provider can expect from the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood (Lifeblood) and the reciprocal actions/responsibilities a health provider needs to undertake to receive that service. This element will assist health providers to assess whether they are receiving the appropriate service, or whether they need to ask for corrective action to be undertaken to achieve an appropriate service.
  3. A short CEO commitment statement and process in relation to minimum requirements to be approved to receive blood and blood products.

The Charter supports the implementation of the Australian Health Ministers’ Statement on National Stewardship Expectations on the Supply of Blood and Blood Products (the Stewardship Statement), (http://www.blood.gov.au/stewardship) issued on 12 November 2010 (attached to Charter). The Charter details the reciprocal obligations and responsibilities of health providers and suppliers of Blood and Blood Products. At this time, the Charter only includes information on the expectations relating to Lifeblood. Detail relating to other suppliers will be added as they are developed.

All health providers in Australia that receive blood and blood products are expected to complete the Charter, with the exception of those in Western Australia. Your organisation will be contacted by the National Blood Authority to communicate the arrangements for completing the document.

There remains an expectation that health providers in Western Australia meet the stewardship expectations communicated by Ministers. However, Western Australia has different arrangements in place to consider whether these are getting met.

A list of frequently asked questions about the Charter is below. Should you have any other queries or would like to discuss these arrangements, please contact the National Blood Authority at charter@blood.gov.au OR 13 000 BLOOD (13 000 25663).