Blood donation criteria now based on individual sexual activity

Tuesday 7 May 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board today updated its blood donor eligibility criteria to include risk-based questions that will be the same for every individual, regardless of sexual orientation, sex or gender. These questions reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections, such as HIV.

The change brings Bermuda in line with blood donation criteria in the UK, Canada and the US.

Consultant Haematologist and Acting Chief of Pathology Dr Eyitayo Fakunle explains: “Our focus is always to ensure that our criteria maximise the safety of our blood supply. We test all our donated blood and we also defer donations from people who do not meet our criteria. Deferrals of higher-risk individuals and testing of all donated blood together give us the best protection overall.”

Prior to this change, the Bermuda Blood Donor Centre criteria had time-based deferrals specific to men who’d had sex with men (MSM) and women who’d had sex with MSM during the previous three months.

“These criteria didn’t address the sexual behaviour of all individuals, nor did they recognise that not everyone in one group has the same level of risk,” Dr Fakunle says. “The new questions will therefore be asked of all donors, irrespective of their sexual orientation.”

The new criteria will defer prospective donors who report having anal sex with a new sexual partner or more than one sexual partner of any gender in the past three months. People who are in monogamous relationships of three months or more will therefore not be deferred, irrespective of their sexual orientation.

Dr Fakunle adds: “We continue to use global research and evidence so that our blood donation criteria ensure safe transfusions for our patients. This is without doubt our most important priority in transfusion services.

“Criteria are updated when science indicates there is a more effective way to ensure safety. As a small jurisdiction, we closely follow the US and Canada specifically as we are accredited by patient safety bodies from both those countries.”

People can review a factsheet on sexual activity and blood donation, and all the blood donation eligibility criteria on the BHB website at bermudahospitals.bm/be-a-donor.

BHB seeks community input into improving patient flow

Friday 26 January 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today asks people who have been an inpatient at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital to fill in a short survey about their experience and to provide details about where they experienced delays.

The survey is part of a 100 day challenge that started on 1 December, with the goal of improving internal processes that impact patient flow through King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. The survey can be accessed at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/BHB100DAYS

CEO & President Scott Pearman notes that while many discharge delays relate to external service availability, BHB wants to do all it can to ensure its internal processes are as efficient as possible.

“Our longest delays are due to external factors,” Mr Pearman says, “but the challenge we have set ourselves is whether the inpatient who was in hospital for seven days could have been discharged in five or six if our internal processes were more efficient.

“The 100 Day Challenge and survey feed into our larger people-centred care journey. While we are looking at our data to help us identify where improvements can be made, patients and their families have lived experience that can help illuminate issues that are impacting them.”

The executive sponsor of the challenge, Chief of Nursing Judy Richardson, says the initiative is a way to focus multiple teams on what is a collective responsibility, to learn as much as possible where the delays are and to either test an improvement or identify longer term or more complex changes that will be picked up past the 100 days.

“This challenge is about how we collaborate and work internally,” Mrs Richardson explains. “From diagnostic imaging to the inpatient wards, environmental services to porters, lab services to individual specialists, we are asking our staff across areas to improve the patient journey. If inpatients need an MRI, for example, how can we make sure they are seen within a day of the referral. We can’t solve everything in 100 days, but the challenge is to learn and test as much as we can.”

Keltie Jamieson, Chief Hospital Information Officer adds, “Our electronic medical record, PEARL, will help us collate data and see what is happening around the organisation. This data is a big help in identifying and measuring change, but the heart of the project is engaging staff, patients and families around the single focus of improving patient flow.

“This survey is available for people who want to provide details about their patient journey, and the 100 Day Challenge team is speaking with patients and their families while they are in hospital so we fully understand and incorporate their feedback when making changes.”

The 100 Day Challenge ends in March, and BHB will provide an update in April of the Challenge outcomes.

Pictured left to right above discussing data in the 100 Day Challenge Command Centre are BHB staff Martin Maurais, Quality Manager; Olievia Martins, Clinical Informatics Specialist; and Karen Raynor, Clinical Director Medical Surgical Services.

Bermuda’s first baby of 2024 is born

Wednesday 3 January 2024: Bermuda’s first baby of 2024 was born on Tuesday 2 January 2024 at 5.37pm. Isabelle Clare Faries weighted 6 lbs and 7 ounces and Bermudian parents Ryan and Lyndsay Faries say they’ll call her ‘Bella’.

“Bella was a ‘fast and furious’ baby,” says Ryan. “We arrived at the hospital at 4:30pm and she was born just over an hour later.”

Bella has an older brother, Theo, who is three years old. “He’s really excited to meet his new sister,” Lyndsay says.

“We are really grateful to all the nurses and our doctor,” adds Ryan. “They have been friendly, kind and helpful throughout the whole experience.”

Valentine’s Day Raffle encourages more people to donate blood

Tuesday 2 January 2024: Bermuda Hospitals Board today announces a  ‘bring-a-friend’ raffle being run by the Bermuda Blood Donor Centre. Starting on Tuesday 2 January 2024, if an existing blood donor brings another person who hasn’t donated before to donate blood, both the existing and new donor will be put in a draw for one of six $250 Masters gift certificates. The draw will be made on Valentine’s Day on Wednesday 14 February 2024.

“Masters has donated a number of gift certificates to us and we will be using them throughout the year as we find different ways to thank our donors,” says Lucy Correia, Nurse Phlebotomist. “As this raffle ends on Valentine’s Day we want to see people bring a new donor – it could be a friend, colleague or loved one. Both our regular and new donor to have a chance to win.”

“We always need more blood donors, but we also need people who can donated platelets, which is a special type of donation called apheresis,” Lucy adds. “First time blood donors can be tested to see if they fit the criteria. Platelets are used for patients who have compromised immune systems, such as cancer and leukaemia patients.”

Lucy also notes that people who spent time in the UK can also now donate. She says, “People who had spent time in the UK between 1980 and 1996 can now donate. This criteria was relaxed last year following scientific evidence that it was safe to do so.”

People who want to book an appointment to donate blood should contact the Bermuda Blood Donor Centre by phone 236-5067, WhatsApp 533-9553 or email blood.donor@bhb.bm. The blood donation site https://bermudahospitals.bm/be-a-donor/ also has more information and the latest criteria for donating.