The impact of the type and screen test policy on hospital transfusion practice.

The requirements of pretransfusion testing have undergone repeated modification, and those of the type and screen policy are currently the most widely accepted to be standard. The type and screen test policy, together with the abbreviated crossmatch procedure, was implemented in the United Christian Hospital in January 1997. This paper discusses the impact of the type and screen test policy on clinicians and patients, on the blood bank and hospital, and on the future of the hospital transfusion services.