A WRISTBAND barcode identification system, tested out by patients needing blood transfusions, could soon be used in Oxfordshire hospitals.

The new system, which was introduced earlier this year, will now be rolled out across the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, starting with the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington and later moving to the Horton Hospital, Banbury Trust managers held a promotion day to explain the system to patients and staff, and there will be similar event in the near future at the Horton.

The scheme, where a hand-held computer prevents potentially fatal accidents by matching patients to blood products before allowing transfusions to start, has proved a complete success during pilot trials. The ORH Trust has agreed to fund the system for five years at a cost of £1.7m.

Barbara Cripps, project manager for SafeTx, the barcode-protected blood transfusion system, said: "Currently, wristbands across the trust are of inconsistent quality - some are printed, some handwritten, and they can be incomplete or hard to read.

"SafeTx, which is the driving force behind the implementation of the new wristband system, will improve patient safety. It will ensure that, in addition to providing barcoded identification, all information on wristbands will be consistent, complete and legible.

"Wristband printers are being installed throughout the trust and we are running training sessions and wristband audits. A poster campaign to help reinforce the importance of the new system."

The new system will also make it possible to use barcode systems for devices such as glucometers and, in due course, chemotherapy.

The importance of the new technology is highlighted by the fact that in the last financial year 4.2 per cent of all samples received in the ORH blood transfusion laboratories were inappropriately or inadequately labelled, accounting for 2,000 samples being rejected.

Trust managers say the scanning of a barcoded wristband and direct printing of a label, as happens with the SafeTx system, will ensure accurate sample labelling, and reduce delays to surgery as a result of missing or inaccurate blood tests.

The introduction of barcoded patient wristbands is the final piece of a five-year programme that has networked the blood glucose meter readings across the trust, meaning that the diabetes specialist nurses and other clinicians will now be able to search the database to find patients whose diabetes requires intervention.

Barcoding wristbands also paves the way for when all patients' records are stored electronically.