Blood Safety Project Ushers in New Focus on Quality Management, Expanded National Capacity of Blood Services in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Ministry of Health recently recognized a team of local quality managers and laboratory specialists as national trainers, empowering them to provide training and mentoring in quality management systems to blood services throughout Ukraine.

The national trainers represent partner sites in a blood safety project implemented in Ukraine since 2012 by AIHA. This project supports the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and is funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The team of national blood services quality management trainers approved by Ukraine’s Ministry of Health includes (left to the right, Oleksandr Serhiienko, national blood safety expert, AIHA; Oksana Marynyuk, deputy head physician on organizational and technical issues, Kyiv City Blood Center; Olena Matyuk, quality manager, Rivne Oblast Blood Center; Kateryna Chyrkova, IT engineer, Kharkiv Oblast Blood Center; Marina Tkachenko, quality manager, Odessa Oblast Blood Center; Oksana Shaider, physician-transfusiologist, physician-transfusiologist, Children’s Hospital Transfusion Department, OHMATDIT; (Oksana Syvak, Deputy Minister of Health, MoH Ukraine – next in picture); Oksana Petrenko, quality manager, Kyiv Oblast Blood Center; Victoria Yanovska, head of Ukrainian Reference Center for Clinical Laboratory and Metrology, OHMATDIT; Anatolii Chuhriiev, head physician of Zhytomyr Oblast Blood Center and president of the Association of Blood Service of Ukraine. Members of the team not pictured here are Petro Verbitskyi, head physician, Kyiv Oblast Blood Center; Tetiana Tereshchuk, QM, Zhytomyr Oblast Blood Center; Oksana Mulyarchuk, physician-transfusiologist, Children’s Hospital Transfusion Department, OHMATDIT, and Marina Kostina, physician-transfusiologist South Western Railway Road Transfusion Station.

The team of national blood services quality management trainers approved by Ukraine’s Ministry of Health includes (left to the right, Oleksandr Serhiienko, national blood safety expert, AIHA; Oksana Marynyuk, deputy head physician on organizational and technical issues, Kyiv City Blood Center; Olena Matyuk, quality manager, Rivne Oblast Blood Center; Kateryna Chyrkova, IT engineer, Kharkiv Oblast Blood Center; Marina Tkachenko, quality manager, Odessa Oblast Blood Center; Oksana Shaider, physician-transfusiologist, physician-transfusiologist, Children’s Hospital Transfusion Department, OHMATDIT; (Oksana Syvak, Deputy Minister of Health, MoH Ukraine – next in picture); Oksana Petrenko, quality manager, Kyiv Oblast Blood Center; Victoria Yanovska, head of Ukrainian Reference Center for Clinical Laboratory and Metrology, OHMATDIT; Anatolii Chuhriiev, head physician of Zhytomyr Oblast Blood Center and president of the Association of Blood Service of Ukraine. Members of the team not pictured here are Petro Verbitskyi, head physician, Kyiv Oblast Blood Center; Tetiana Tereshchuk, QM, Zhytomyr Oblast Blood Center; Oksana Mulyarchuk, physician-transfusiologist, Children’s Hospital Transfusion Department, OHMATDIT, and Marina Kostina, physician-transfusiologist South Western Railway Road Transfusion Station.

Soon after the launch of the project in Ukraine, quality management systems emerged as a key technical assistance priority. Starting in 2013, AIHA began developing the capacity of 12 blood service workers with expertise in various aspects of blood establishment operations, including collections, laboratory, quality, and information services. The training started with basic quality management concepts then progressed to more advanced topics. Following three years of targeted technical assistance, they are now national-level experts fully capable of training and mentoring other blood services personnel as the country works to attain international standards.

In accordance with international best practices and standards, the team developed a Quality Management Manual, which was reviewed by Dr. Oleksandr Serhiienko, National Technical Expert for the AIHA Blood Safety Project, and Jean Stanley, Principle Investigator. Further, it was approved by the National Academy of Post-Graduate Medical Education and recognized by the Ministry of Education, making it an official part of governmental postgraduate education in Ukraine.

Following a Training of Trainers workshop on December 5-6, 2016, the team presented the manual at a Conference of the All-Ukrainian Blood Service Association. The event was conducted on December 9 in Kyiv and attended by head physicians from all blood establishments in Ukraine. The manual covers key elements of a quality management system for blood establishments and includes practical examples for implementation.

In 2017, the team of national experts will commence quality management trainings in their respective cities, as well as other locations throughout the country as requested by the Ministry of Health. Through this activity, at least 150 people will be trained. Starting in February, the experts will conduct 20 webinars and AIHA will arrange for 500 more copies of the new manual to be printed and distributed nationally along with a CD recordings of the webinars.

In 2017, the team of national experts will commence quality
management trainings in their respective cities, as well as other
locations throughout the country as requested by the Ministry
of Health. Through this activity, at least 150 people will be trained.
Starting in February, the experts will conduct 20 webinars
and AIHA will arrange for 500 more copies of the new manual
to be printed and distributed nationally along with a CD
recordings of the webinars.

The manual dissemination conference on December 9 provided a venue for the national trainers to share their unique experiences, including successes and challenges with implementing key elements of a quality system in their own institutions. This was beneficial for others in attendance who will soon began the process at their respective blood centers.

Over the course of project implementation, AIHA played critical role in development of Ukraine’s national strategy for reforming the country’s blood services, according to Dr. Anatoly Chuhriiev, head physician of Zhytomyr Oblast Blood Center and president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Blood Services.

“The activities of this project have helped ensure that all demonstration sites are now implementing real quality management systems, as well as developing a strong culture of quality overall,” Dr. Chuhriiev explains, noting that this has resulted in blood center staff becoming much more confident in their knowledge, skills, and the excellence of their products and services.

The comprehensive quality management system adopted by the project sites encompasses the organizational structure, policies, processes, procedures, and resources required to achieve and ensure the quality of products and services provided by a blood establishment, Dr. Chuhriiev continues. “As a result,” he says, “these centers are actively ensuring the availability of safe blood for all patients who may need a transfusion.”

During the conference, Dr. Oksana Syvak, Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine, stressed that the Ukrainian blood system is undergoing radical reform and development in accordance with an agreement between the country and the European Union (EU) ratified in September 2014.

“The Ministry of Health highly appreciates the role AIHA’s blood safety project has played in assisting the country to start the process of developing an efficient blood service, not to mention the harmonizing of local legislation with EU  Directives,” Dr. Syvak told participants. She went on to day that the recommendations provided by AIHA for an initial assessment report were fully accepted by EU counterparts, who conducted a separate blood service assessment in 2015.

Dr. Syvak expressed her gratitude for how AIHA and CDC conducted all project activities in full coordination with the Ministry of Health. “This was — and continues to be — crucial as ongoing health sector reforms are being implemented in a time of many challenges and frequently changing priorities,” she noted.

Over the coming months, AIHA will continue to collaborate closely with the Ministry of Health and CDC to help address identified gaps through targeted, practical technical assistance designed to yield sustainable improvements in the way blood centers operate throughout Ukraine. Future activities include the development of national teams of experts in the clinical use of blood, screening of blood donors for transfusion transmissible infections, and appropriate storage and distribution of blood components for transfusion.

The activities described in this article are supported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under Cooperative Agreement Number 1U2GGH000861. The contents of this document are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or the US Government.