Flame cells… I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen them in real life…
This is (supposed to be) a reflective diary by a (not very) anonymous biomedical scientist who works somewhere in the south of England. One day this diary may well be submitted to the Health and Care Professions Council as evidence of ongoing continual professional development....
2 May 2026 (Saturday) - Unexpected Thrombocytosis
I was sitting in the garden enjoying the Bank Holiday sunshine when my
phone beeped. A colleague wanted my opinion on a blood film…
A sample taken in the community had been somehow left in the sunshine,
the red cells had cooked and broken up, and the analyser had counted the fragments
as platelets.
1 May 2026 (Friday) - HCPC Update
The HCPC sent out their newsletter today. You can read
it by clicking here. As always I wish it was of more direct relevance to me…
I
must admit I was interested by the updated guidance on fitness
to practice. Dishonesty for example… is being a tad cheeky with evading
paying for parking really a striking off offence? And the bit on sexually
motivated misconduct… back in the day I used to joke with the younger trainees…
these days I’m terrified to even say hello.
30 April 2026 (Thursday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise
Time for another BTLP-TACT exercise. I
was presented with one case – an eighty year old chap in A&E with coffee
ground vomit needing group and save.
He grouped as AB Rh(D) Positive with
antibody screen positive in cell 3.
I performed antibody panels. The IAT and
enzyme panels were both positive in cell 8 corresponding with anti Kp(a)
I got it right.
28 April 2026 (Tuesday) - Westgard QC Update
The nice people at Westgard QC sent their update today. It was rather heavy going, but statistical stuff often is.
21 April 2026 (Tuesday) - BTLP-TACT
Being at a bit of a loose end I thought
I mihght do a BTLP-TACT exercise. I was pesented with one case – a seventy-eight
year-old chap needing two units of cryo for factor VIII deficiency.
He grouped as O Rh(D) Positive with a
negative antibody screen.
Is the cryo actually indicated in Factor
VIII deficiency? Well, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4627369/
says that it is rich in the stuff and has historically been used as a treatment
for haemophilia A. But it potentially carries pathogens… The reference says that
it is a second-line treatment.
I’m going to say that it *is*
indicated and either way I will learn something.
So I issued two units and got the thumbs
down. Apparently “Selection of any plasma components was inappropriate for
this clinical condition”. One lives and learns…
20 April 2026 (Monday) - UKAS Update
The nice people at UKAS sent their update today. You can see it by
clicking here.
There was a potentially interesting article about how UKAS and the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) are
working together… it was dull, but I’ve signed up with the Academy for
Healthcare Science. You never know – I might learn something…
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