A QUALITY ASSURANCE SCHEME FOR THE KLEIHAUER TEST - THE SCOTTISH EXPERIENCE 1988-1996

This report describes the experience gained in the last 8 years of imp lementing and administering a Quality Assurance Scheme dedicated to im proving the reliability of Kleihauer test results in Scotland. Initial ly the five transfusion centres in Scotland were the only participants , but since 1992 all 15 hospital laboratories in Scotland performing t he Kleihauer test to ensure an adequate dose of anti-D is administered to Rh-negative women, at risk of developing allo anti-D, have joined this voluntary scheme. As a result of the standardization of technical methods, improvement in reporting of QA results has been observed sin ce 1994.