New Zealand Blood Service CEO Sam Cliffe.
This service ranges from the collection of blood from volunteer donors to the transfusion of blood products within the hospital environment. NZBS also provides diagnostic testing services, tissue (skin and bone) banking and stem cell services, and matches patients and donors prior to organ/tissue transplants.
The Challenge
When NZBS was established, a comprehensive blood management system was introduced to support and enhance the safety of all the services NZBS provides. The system ensured that there was full traceability of all blood donations and products through the processes of collection, testing, manufacturing and issue to patients. Installed nationally throughout NZBS centres and in all District Health Board (DHB) blood banks, the system – called eProgesa, developed by MAK-System – was upgraded in 2012 to the current iteration. It’s widely implemented internationally and recognised for its rich functionality and web-based technology.
These critical core systems operate 24/7.
The Datacom Difference
Datacom has been working with NZBS for the last 12 years, maintaining and supporting their core systems. We’ve also been working with them on a wide variety of initiatives, all aimed at continually improving efficiency and the quality of service delivery. These initiatives have included:
- eProgesa upgrade
- Fit-out of the state-of-the-art new Blood Centre in Christchurch (post-earthquake)
- Implementing a range of new IT management tools
- Relocating disaster recovery services from Wellington to the Kapua Data Centre in Hamilton resulting in NZBS’s core IT equipment being located in both of Datacom’s world-class Tier 3+ data centres.
Currently we are working with NZBS and partner MAK-System to implement the eTraceline system into NZBS and DHB blood banks. This system is specifically designed to automate manual procedures and enhance the quality and safety of the blood bank operations. This will be followed by further projects including implementing smart fridges and offline access to patient test results.
The eTraceline system is currently used by other national blood services, including Canada, Scotland, Ireland and Hungary.
“It is of the utmost importance to us that the core systems used across our collection centres and blood banks can process and track every blood donation, from our donors to the patient requiring the transfusion. NZBS is proud to be working with Datacom, who have been a valued long-time partner with our life-saving service.”
Sam Cliffe, Chief Exective Officer, New Zealand Blood Service