Blood Transfusion is situated within the Pathology Department at Letterkenny University Hospital. It is actively involved in provision of the following services:
- Transfusion Medicine which includes routine and emergency pre-transfusion testing and the provision of blood, blood components and blood products for transfusion. A comprehensive range of tests are in place to suit service requirements. For further details on sample/form requirements, labelling criteria, turnaround times and reports, see the Blood Transfusion User Manual (PDF), this manual is used in conjunction with the Pathology Department User Manual.
- Haemovigilance. This is a Consultant lead service with a Haemovigilance Officer who is responsible for the day to day management of education, surveillance and investigation of serious adverse events and reactions. The Haemovigilance Officer is responsible for the notification of serious adverse events and reactions to the National Haemovigilance Office.
- Consultant Service: A Consultant Haematologist is available for advice on Blood Transfusion issues
Departmental contacts
| Advisory Services |
Consultant Haematologist |
Ext 3660 |
| Haemovigilance |
Haemovigilance Officer |
Ext 2773, Bleep 6400 |
| Technical Services |
Chief Medical Scientist |
Ext 3612 |
| Laboratory Enquiries |
|
Ext 3557 |
Outside the hours of 9am and 5pm the Medical Scientist "on-call" can be contacted for URGENT requests on 173-815 (internal) or via the switchboard at Letterkenny University Hospital (0749125888).
Routine Opening Hours
Monday – Friday (excluding weekends and public holidays)
8am to 8pm Routine Service
8pm – 8am Emergency on-call service
Weekends and Public Holidays
24 hour emergency on-call service
Haemovigilance service
Monday to Friday (excluding Public Holidays)
9am to 5pm Routine Service
Medical Advisory Service
Clinical laboratory advice is provided by a Consultant Haematologist (with 24/7 telephone cover)
Advice and support is also available from the Consultant Haematologist led team in the Irish Blood Transfusion Service.
Quality Assurance
The laboratory carries out all diagnostic testing in accordance with “best practice” guidelines. To ensure that testing is of the highest quality the laboratory performs both internal and external quality control. The laboratory participates in the UK National External Quality Assessment Scheme and the Irish External Quality Assessment Schemes.
Turnaround Times
Turnaround times for the provision of blood components and blood products are detailed in the Primary Sample Collection Manual. In emergency situations e.g. exsanguinating patient, uncrossmatched blood can be provided within 10 – 15 minutes.
Urgent Requests
If blood components or products are required urgently, the blood bank must be contacted immediately with details of the type and quantity of product(s) being requested together with time required. All telephoned requests must be followed with a completed request form.
(Rev 34, date modified 15/03/2024, Change details: uploaded MP-GEN-0064, Revision 9, General User Manual. Change listed within document. NOTE: If printed, information on this page is only valid on day of printing.)
