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Practices and attitudes towards quality assurance, inspection and accreditation in blood collection establishments in the European Community
Author(s) -
Adamides E.,
CarbonellUberos F.,
Delaney F. M.,
Drouet N.,
Kubanek B.,
Pappalettera M.,
Scott J.,
Maniatis A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
transfusion medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1365-3148
pISSN - 0958-7578
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3148.2000.00263.x
Subject(s) - accreditation , quality assurance , unit (ring theory) , quality (philosophy) , european community , data collection , preference , medical education , quality management , business , psychology , operations management , medicine , service (business) , marketing , engineering , sociology , statistics , philosophy , mathematics education , mathematics , epistemology , international trade , social science
. In the framework of a European Community (EC)‐supported project, a survey of practices and attitudes towards quality assurance, inspection and accreditation in Blood Collection Establishments (BCEs) in the EC member states was carried out. Analysis of 352 responses to a structured questionnaire revealed a preference for national standards over international, and an introspective and reactive view to quality management. Four broad categories of operational performance in relation to safety were formed: initial , repeatable , managed and optimising , with the majority of responses (209) being characterized as initial . Although a direct relationship between the size of the BCE and the range and level of quality management practices is apparent in the data, further analysis shows that small BCEs have much higher ratio of personnel per blood unit collected/processed than large BCEs and thus seem to have an inherent potential for improvement. Overall, a clear preference for inspection and accreditation by professional peers at the national level was indicated.