18 July 2025 (Thursday) - Chief Scientific Officer's Update

The Office of the Chief Scientific Officer sent out their update today. You can read it by clicking here.
There was quite a bit about near patient testing which is probably the way forward, but…
I know I’m an old reactionary but all the verbals about the government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England… 
We all know that despite it being what the country probably needs,  whatever plan any government has for healthcare will be in place for less than a year before it is scrapped and replaced by another in the desperate hope of short term political gain, don’t we?

18 July 2025 (Thursday) - FFP Again

On Monday the nice people at Blood, Bytes and Beyond put out a little guide about plasma transfusions.
They’re added a few more:
A guide to using FFP
When not to use FFP
What to use instead.
 
A very useful set of refreshers…

 

15 July 2025 (Tuesday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise

Time for another BTLP-TACT exercise. I was presented with two cases:
 
79165 – a thirty-one year-old woman needing six units of blood following a stabbing. The date of birth on the sample was wildly different to that on the paperwork, so I rejected it. Despite the urgency of the case I’d rather operate without a blood sample than having one from the wrong patient.
 
20599 – a ninety-seven year-old chap needing two units of blood following burns.
He grouped as A Rh(D) Positive with a negative antibody screen. I selected two units of A Rh(D) Positive blood
 
I got the thumbs-up

14 July 2025 (Monday) - Plasma Transfusions

The nice people at Blood Bytes Beyond sent a rather good little review of plasma transfusions today. You can read it by clicking here.

It was a very useful refresher…


12 July 2025 (Saturday) - Slide Saturday Challenge


Well, they are Howell-Jolly bodies. I mentioned them in my atlas some time ago
.

10 July 2025 (Thursday) - HCPC Newsletter

The HCPC sent their newsletter today… It was all very “corporate”. It invited my opinion on the future direction of the HCPC.
I gave it. How on Earth does someone’s rantings on social media in any way affect their ability to do their job?
I might just get struck off…

7 July 2025 (Monday) - Fritsma Factor Update


 Fibrinolysis, haemophilia, DIC, mixing studies… the Fritsma Factor newsletter is always a useful thing to have. And it’s free too.