The Blood Matters Program is a Victorian State Government program run in collaboration with the Australian Red Cross .
Blood Matters, guided by the values, vision, and priorities of the Victorian Department of Health, fosters collaboration to enhance best practices in managing blood and blood products. This includes sustainable, responsible, safe and appropriate use of blood aimed at improving patient outcomes in Victoria.
Strategic direction
Use innovative and diverse approaches to:
- Promote and support the development of strategies that optimise safe and appropriate use of blood products, or alternatives, and person-centred care through national and local governance frameworks and standards.
- Foster and strengthen partnerships and stakeholder relationships.
- Analyse data and disseminate findings across the sector to raise awareness, influence practice, promote efficiencies and equity of care, and provide value.
- Provide and promote expert knowledge sharing and collaboration across the sector, including specific initiatives, tools and specialised advice.
How we assist health services
Blood Matters can assist health service with:
- patient blood management and transfusion education and resources
- transfusion practitioner support
- haemovigilance monitoring and reporting
- blood component and product inventory management
- subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIg) programs.
Email bloodmatters@redcrossblood.org.au for assistance with any of these areas in your health service.
Transfusion practitioner role
The Blood Matters Program has been instrumental in promoting and supporting the transfusion practitioner role across Victorian health services. The term transfusion practitioner is used to describe the many and varied roles undertaken by a range of health care professionals working in the areas of transfusion and patient blood management.
Most public and some private health services in Victoria employ a transfusion practitioner to oversee blood management and transfusion practice in their organisation.
The Australian Red Cross Lifeblood clinical education team is developing a series of 7 microcredentials to provide foundational knowledge for transfusion practitioners. These modules are ideal for new transfusion practitioners or for those already in the role who have identified a gap in their skills or knowledge. Access the modules .
Blood Matters Advisory Committee
The Blood Matters Advisory Committee (BMAC) is a multidisciplinary advisor and governance committee supporting the Blood Matters Program.
For further information regarding membership of the BMAC, email bloodmatters@redcrossblood.org.au.
Our history
The Blood Matters Program evolved from a 2002 collaborative project involving 3 organisations. The project developed and tested tools and processes aimed at improving the quality and safety of transfusion practice in Victorian health services.
The project was expanded in 2003 to include an additional 12 public hospitals and was named the Blood Matters Breakthrough Collaborative project.
This expanded project used the United States based Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) methodologies for quality improvement to further test and develop various strategies over an 18-month period.
Since then, Blood Matters has continued to grow and evolve over the years and to provide quality improvement strategies in line with changes in the blood sector.
Contact us
See the Blood Matters program contacts page for the contact details of Blood Matters staff, and Victorian and interstate transfusion practitioners.
Reviewed 30 October 2024