An innovative way of working within the Covid 19 Pandemic trialling the use of the Eldon Blood Typing Kit for ABO and Rh blood grouping within the Living Donor Liver Transplant Program at Leeds Teaching Hospitals

ABSTRACT

IntroductionThe pandemic Covid-19 normalised remote working and we addressed what this meant for our living donors. Within the liver donor liver transplant (LDLT) team one of the major challenges was gaining access to getting donors blood groups which is required as the initial stage of assessment to see if they are a compatible blood group to proceed with their intended recipient. To enable our service evaluated the ‘Eldon Home Blood Typing Kit’ for ABO and Rh blood grouping.The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the Eldon Home blood typing kit 1n comparison with the standard laboratory method.MethodThe Eldon Home Kit 2511 is a rapid user friendly self-test kit to determine the blood group inside the ABO and RhD blood group systems. The blood kits were evaluated by 30 living donors to determine their accuracy. Blood grouping was conducted as per the instructions in the company manual.ResultsThe Eldon Home blood typing kit correctly identified the blood group of all 30 potential donors in comparison with the gold-standard hospital laboratory slide and tube method. No disparity was observed. The living donors described that the cards were easy to use and gave reliable results within one minute thus providing a convenient and reliable way of remotely obtaining the donor’s blood group required to assess their suitability as a living donor for their intended recipient within the pandemic.ConclusionThe Eldon Home Blood Typing Kit provides a rapid method for potential living donors that is both accurate and acceptable to prospective donors. Whilst this service development was initiated during the Covid-19 pandemic it will continue to be used in increase efficiency in living donor assessment process and to reduce unnecessary travel.