The documents on this page can be used to find out more information on the safe use of blood administration sets (also known as giving sets) in adults.
Further guidance is being developed for paediatric and neonatal transfusions, and will be available at a future date.
Cautionary Tale No. 2: Optimising Blood Administration Set Safety
This cautionary tale details an event where the wrong blood administration set (also known as giving set) was used and provides guidance on safe administration set use.
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SHOT Bite No.35: Learning from SHOT administration set errors
This SHOT bite reviews SHOT data on blood administration set errors and provides guidance on their use.
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Blood and IV fluid administration set poster
This poster shows examples of different administration sets (also called giving sets) commonly used for blood components and IV fluid.
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MHRA – Risk of severe harm from use of incorrect giving (administration) set for blood transfusion
The MHRA have released a Device Safety Information (DSI/2026/003) notice highlighting the risk of serious patient harm when standard IV administration sets are mistakenly used for blood transfusions. These can lead to under-infusion or haemolysis, with potentially severe consequences.
SHOT data has informed this alert and we have collaborated closely with MHRA devices team on its content. Click here to access the device safety information or select the red button below.
Click here to access the MHRA device safety information