A SUFFOLK hospital has introduced one of the country's first electronic tracking systems to keep tabs on blood packs for transfusions.Bosses at West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds, yesterday showed off the new bar code technique, which has been designed to help the unit operate to the highest health standards.

A SUFFOLK hospital has introduced one of the country's first electronic tracking systems to keep tabs on blood packs for transfusions.

Bosses at West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds, yesterday showed off the new bar code technique, which has been designed to help the unit operate to the highest health standards.

The system uses bar codes to monitor individual blood packs, the member of staff taking blood from the lab fridge and, in the future, the hospital wristband of the patient who needs it.

It has been in place for just three months, during which time more than 700 members of staff have been trained in the new system and around 2,000 units of blood have been transfused.

Yvonne Field, manager of haematology and blood transfusion at the hospital, said the system was introduced in response to an EU law, which requires hospitals to make sure that each unit of blood is accounted for. The records will be kept for 30 years.

She said: “Because it is an electronic system, it reduces the element of risk and increases the level of patient safety.

“It is able to record every single unit of blood, from donor to recipient.”

The electronic system bleeps if anything is wrong - if the blood taken from the lab fridge is not correct or if the patient's wristband does not correspond with who the blood it is intended for.

A hospital spokesman said: “This has further improved staff confidence in processing blood packs.

“As well as reducing risks, improving patient safety and cutting down on paperwork and record storage space, having it has also helped to lower the hospital's insurance premiums and improved value for money.”

n The West Suffolk has also introduced a state-of-the-art machine that screens for one of the most common sexually transmitted infections, which can lead to infertility.

The hospital's pathology department now has a ProbeTec Chlamydia PCR machine, a sensitive piece of equipment set to make it easier to diagnose Chlamydia infection.

It is estimated one in 10 people aged between 16 and 25 could have Chlamydia and not know it. And if left untreated, the infection it can cause serious problems such as pelvic inflammatory disease and lead to infertility.