Standard 7 and the Patient Blood Management (PBM) Guidelines

Standard 7: Blood Management mandates that leaders of health service organisations describe, implement and monitor systems to ensure the safe, appropriate, efficient and effective care of patients’ own blood, as well as other blood and blood products. Clinicians and other members of the workforce should use the blood and blood product safety systems. 

The best and safest blood for most patients is their own circulating blood. Patient blood management (PBM) views a patient’s own blood as a valuable and unique resource that should be conserved and managed appropriately. Appropriate patient management requires a patient’s blood (haemopoietic and circulatory system) to be considered in the same way as all other body systems.

PBM should be the standard of care applied by all clinicians for patients facing a medical or surgical intervention who are at high risk of significant blood loss. With better management, patients usually require fewer transfusions of donated blood components, which avoids transfusion-associated complications. 
PBM is not an intervention or an alternative to allogeneic blood transfusion; it is sound, evidence-based clinical practice. The PBM Guidelines, released by the National Blood Authority (NBA), are evidence based guidelines to assist and guide healthcare professionals in making clinical decisions in relation to blood and blood products. Implementation of the PBM Guidelines will encourage better outcomes for patients and support health providers in demonstrating that they are meeting the Standard.

Standard 7 Action 7.4 includes specific strategies for developing and implementing PBM strategies.

Standard 7 and the Stewardship Statement

The Australian Health Ministers’ Conference Statement on National Stewardship Expectations for the Supply of Blood and Blood Products (the Stewardship Statement) outlines the expectations of clinicians with regard to the responsible, sustainable and appropriate use of blood and blood products. The Blood Management Standard builds on these expectations, and outlines the safety and quality expectations of health service organisations in PBM, and the management of blood and blood products.