Practices and attitudes towards quality assurance, inspection and accreditation in blood collection establishments in the European Community

In the framework of a European Community (EC)-supported project, a survey o f practices and attitudes towards quality assurance, inspection and accredi tation in Blood Collection Establishments (BCEs) in the EC member states wa s carried out. Analysis of 352 responses to a structured questionnaire reve aled a preference for national standards over international, and an introsp ective and reactive view to quality management. Four broad categories of op erational performance in relation to safety were formed: initial, repeatabl e, managed and optimising, with the majority of responses (209) being chara cterized 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 lev el was indicated.