Dammam hospital earns US honor

King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam achieved a new milestone when it won the coveted American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) accreditation making it Health Ministry’s first blood bank to earn this international accreditation.
The hospital’s blood bank and blood transfusion services department has earned this accreditation after passing more than 500 standards of the AABB, which ensures the promotion of safety standards in the various medical fields which are obliged to implement the requirements contained in the accreditation manuals and regulations.
These are based on the evaluation of the operating systems facilities and blood bank quality, the implementation of the scientific data and quality standards in the blood banks to strengthen and improve safety measures during the collection, processing, testing and separation of blood transfusions and blood products which all reflect positively on the patient and the donor and enhance the quality of medical services provided to them.
Dr. Khaled Al-Shaibani, CEO of King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam, said this accreditation is a significant achievement to be added to the Ministry of Health and King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam’s series of achievements, noting that this accreditation came as a strong indicator to put patient’s safety first in compliance with the Ministry of Health slogan (patient first).
Dr. Ahmed Al-Bahrani, head of the blood bank and transfusion services department at King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Dammam, stated that the blood bank has undergone during the last period a rigorous assessment by a team of international experts in the field of blood banking and transfusion medicine to test the standards of the AABB, which combined together the requirements of the internationally accredited quality management and the public health systems and private blood banks, where the team conducted a thorough examination of all blood donation records and records of transfusion medicine and its derivatives. The team also inspected the numerous facilities, and the blood bank to verify that the qualifications and the practical experience of the department’s employees, and the quality of public safety programs followed in the bank and laboratory procedures for blood tests and blood transfusions to patients, were up to the accreditation standards of the AABB.
Al-Bahrani also added that the blood bank at the hospital has been able to apply the standards and international standards in accordance with the highest quality and secure blood and blood products through donations, screening and separation, processing, storage and updating it according to patients’ needs especially cancer and blood cancer patients, and patients with organ transplants. It also included patients in intensive care and the surgical unit, patients who need to change the plasma and red blood cells and other such cases.
He stressed that the primary motivation behind the pursuit of the Dammam hospital to obtain such an accreditation is the hospital’s executive management strategy based on clear visions and goals to achieve significant international achievements to improve the hospital provided medical service and take it to the level of international standards of excellence and quality.