AN OXFORD hospital is taking part in a trial which the NHS hopes will make the best use of its precious blood stocks nationally.

The John Radcliffe Hospital, run by Oxford University Hospitals Trust, is one of four teaching hospitals to pioneer the Blood Management System Pilot.

The trial will use a system from America called the Appropriate Inventory Management (AIM) system.

It tracks the use of blood in patients and can compare the use of blood in one hospital against how other hospitals elsewhere in the country are using it.

Lynda Hamlyn, chief executive of NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), said: “We hope that the trial will provide valuable insights into how blood is used in hospitals, while maintaining patient confidentiality.

“This new source of information will be used by hospitals to help maximise the use of blood and minimise unnecessary transfusions.

“It will also help NHSBT to improve how it plans and collects sufficient amounts of blood so that together we can continue to ensure a sustainable blood supply for the patients of the future.”

The four hospitals which are taking part in the trial, being conducted in England, are the Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.