Blood facts:

Only around 6% of the eligible population give blood Three million units of blood to are given to patients each year Every day the transfusion services in the UK need to collect around 13,000 donations of blood An average district general hospital will use between 550 and 750 units of blood a month 23% of all blood components transfused are in general surgery, 15% in general medical cases, 13% in cardiothoracic surgery, 11% in orthopaedic surgery

The report, Serious Hazards of Transfusion (Shot), says that overall safety standards are very high.

But it says that preventable human errors have still not been eradicated - especially at the vital final bedside check just before a transfusion is given and in hospital transfusion laboratories.

In the period studied during 2000 and 2001, more than three million transfusions took place in UK hospitals.

There were 315 reports of transfusion-related problems - up 7.5% on the previous year.

Two-thirds were caused by patients being given the wrong blood or blood meant for another patient. None of these cases resulted in a patient's death.

There were four confirmed cases of people who died after being given a blood transfusion.

Three were due to unpredictable immune system reactions and the fourth was caused by a bacterial infection transmitted with the blood transfusion.

Two further deaths are thought to be linked to immunological reactions following transfusion - but the cause is yet to be confirmed.

In total there were six confirmed cases of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) reported during 2000/2001.

Four of these were caused by bacteria, the other two by viral infections.

Review of safety

The report said that every hospital should review its transfusion practice in line with national safety guidelines.

It also stresses the need for staff to be kept up-to-date with the latest training requirements.

Dr Hannah Cohen, chairwoman of Shot's steering group, said: "Shot recommends that every hospital should have a transfusion practitioner, usually a nurse, as well as sufficient transfusion medical consultant time to drive improvements in blood safety."

She also said the NHS should develop computer technology to help minimise error.

Other recommendations from the body, which is affiliated to the Royal College of Pathologists, include the modernisation of labs and the retraining of staff at regular intervals.

A spokesman for the group said: "If someone is tired then mistakes can happen despite all the best will in the world."

Shot was set up in 1996 to provide a way for hospitals to report transfusion errors in confidential and anonymous form.