Blood Bank a Boost for Khayelitsha hospital

And for some good news, The Khayelitsha District Hospital (KDH) has become the fifth hospital to receive a blood bank through a partnership between the Western Cape government and the Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS).

The blood bank will operate for 24 hours and will result in rapid availability of cross-matched blood to the hospital and other surrounding hospitals, where the demand is always high, particularly in trauma wards with Khayelitsha being classified as a red zone. Gregory Bellairs, chief executive of Western Cape Blood Service, said this was the first blood bank they had opened in more than 20 years.

It has enabled them to bring the blood supply closer to the patients of this and surrounding hospitals, and that includes improving their ability to supply blood on the Cape Flats where the epidemic of trauma and violence is high, as well as the burden of disease.  

Khayelitsha has a lot of interpersonal violence with gunshot and stab wounds cases in the emergency care. Bringing this service closer to the people is even much more necessary as blood is a precious gift, which will enable us to save more lives.

By: Aneeqa du Plessis