Canadian Recipient Hemovigilance System Renewal Consensus Conference

Following the planned closure of the Blood Safety Contribution Program (BSCP), support was needed to help define the structure, elements, and functions of a renewed national recipient hemovigilance system for Canada. The work centered on preparing the transfusion medicine community, federal and provincial/territorial partners, blood operators, and patient representatives to develop recommendations for a future system that could maintain national coordination, support blood and patient safety, and preserve trust in Canada’s blood system.

RSI was asked to support a broad consultation and consensus-building process leading to a national Consensus Conference. This included developing the evidence and discussion materials needed to help participants consider options for the future of adverse transfusion reaction and transfusion error surveillance, including the Transfusion-Transmitted Injury Surveillance System (TTISS) and the Transfusion Error Surveillance System (TESS). The project required analysis of the existing hemovigilance context, stakeholder perspectives, international comparators, and the development of options for governance, data reporting, system infrastructure, communication, education, collaboration, and cluster identification. A key objective was to equip participants with a shared understanding of the current system, the implications of losing national BSCP functions, and the practical choices involved in renewing a pan-Canadian program.

The Consensus Conference was designed to turn options for a renewed hemovigilance system into recommendations for federal, provincial, and territorial decision-makers. Participants in the Consensus Conference moved from shared evidence and diverse perspectives toward practical recommendations on national leadership, reporting requirements, data standards, analysis and sharing, communication, education, coordination, and mechanisms to identify clusters of transfusion-related events. This process reflected RSI’s CRAFT approach, the Collective Risk Action Framework and Toolkit, by convening participants around a complex risk issue that crossed jurisdictions, organizations, and areas of expertise. CRAFT is a process designed for complex risks that transcend traditional boundaries and require collaboration across stakeholders, jurisdictions and sectors, and served as a useful framework for the hemovigilance renewal project.