Blood Transfusion

The blood transfusion laboratory, CUH is a hospital blood bank that provides a variety of services including pre-transfusion blood group serology testing, the storage and issuing of blood components and products and overseeing the provision of a Haemovigilance/traceability service for service users in CUH, Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), as well as General Practitioners (GPs) in the HSE South. The laboratory first obtained accreditation to ISO15189 standards in September, 2008. The laboratory continues to engage with the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) and Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) to ensure continued compliance with relevant legislation and maintain its accreditation to current ISO15189 standards and the requirements set out in the current AML-BB document.

As of 2022 there are currently 20.5 WTE Medical Scientists and 1.0 WTE Medical Laboratory Assistant in the department and an out of hours service is provided in conjunction with the Haematology Laboratory.

The following outlines the nature of blood transfusion-related serological tests available from the laboratory:

  • ABO and Rh D Blood Grouping
  • Antibody Screening
  • Antibody Identification
  • Crossmatching
  • Direct Coombs Testing
  • Red Cell Phenotyping
  • Blood Optimisation Programme
  • HLA B27 typing
  • Cell free foetal DNA Referral service


To illustrate the nature and scale of blood components stored and issued by the laboratory, the following describes work performed in 2022:

  • 19,875 crossmatch blood group and antibody screen investigations were performed.
  • 11,341 ante-natal blood group and antibody screen investigations were performed.
  • 1,618 infant blood group and DCT specimens processed
  • 1,435 cffDNA Screening requests referred
  • 253 HLA B27 Investigations performed
  • 15,759 donor red cell units were crossmatched
  • 8,140 units of red cells were transfused.
  • 1,426 units of plasma were transfused.
  • 2,149 units of platelets were transfused.
  • 838 gms Fibrinogen concentrate transfused
  • 1,542 vials of Anti-D Ig were transfused

The provision of this service has increased in the order of 25% over the last five years.