Quality, ISO 9002 and haemapheresis service

Hemotherapy in developed countries is safer than ever but the present perce ption of society seems different than in the past. As Isbister wrote, durin g recent years, as blood safety has been progressively improved, the legal risks have been increasing. The first task is to study and define the risks for each activity. For me the management of risks may be achieved through the management of quality. The confidence of society in blood transfusion c an probably best be obtained through a kind of recognised external quality assurance. I intend to describe our targets, our difficulties and the factors that hav e made our certification a success. I shall focus on several points: what quality represents; what our haemapheresis service is; what ISO 9002 standards are and why we choose them; our difficulties and the factors of success. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.