Specialist transport bag from Versapak!

11th August 2013

Versapak, a leading supplier of tamper evident solutions, has helped The Cheshire and North Wales Human Milk Bank deliver human breast milk safely and legally in accordance with NICE guidelines.

The Human Milk Bank required a very specific kind of transport bag and, following recommendations, the charity turned to Versapak, due to their track record of providing reliable tamper evident products, to fulfil their needs.

The Cheshire and North Wales Human Milk Bank is a charitable organisation devoted to providing human breast milk to babies born sick and prematurely who will benefit from receiving Human Breast Milk as opposed to cows’ milk formula. The charity was established in 2003 with the aim of providing donated milk to improve health and aid the prevention of disease susceptibility in these babies.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care. With this in mind, the Milk Bank wanted to ensure that their milk transportation methods met the prescribed guidelines handed down from NICE.

Following liaisons with the Milk Bank to clarify exactly what was needed, Versapak designed and produced a 5-litre insulated bag in the specified colour, complete with tamper-evident seal housing along with the charity’s logo which fitted the compliance guidelines from NICE.

The Human Milk Bank currently processes over 1000 litres of breast milk per year, using the many different regional fleets of dedicated blood/milk bike services to deliver the milk to the necessary destinations, from Carlisle to Cardiff. Versapak is currently looking at providing weather proof covers for the bags, following discussions.

Versapak has seen a surge in orders in recent months as other Milk Banks become aware of the suitability and reliability of the milk transport bags, based on the back of their work with the Cheshire and North Wales Human Milk Bank.

Lynda Coulter of the Milk Bank made the following comment: “To be compliant with NICE Guidance we decided to have bespoke transport bags. They’re just the right size to fit onto the back of a motorbike, and five litres is, as a rule, a perfect average. They can be tagged as well, which satisfies the recipient hospital/family that the bag has remained unopened since leaving the Milk Bank – this is now standard practice for all our milk delivery.”

She continued: “It’s great to have the design bespoke to us – we really didn’t want to have to use transport bags with ‘blood’ written all over them!”

Leon Edwards, Group Managing Director of Versapak, also had the following comment to make: “It was wonderful to be able to work with an organisation like the Cheshire and North Wales Human Milk Bank. We’ve worked a lot with the NHS in the past, but this was a little different. We relish the chance to be able to satisfy a need as particular as this and welcome interest from other milk banks looking to safely and securely transport their milk consignments.”

He continued: “The Milk Banks are leading the way in packaging compliance. I’m sure, based on some of the more unusual sights that I’ve seen during our work in the industry, that some NHS trusts could learn a thing or two from them on how to transport specimens safely and securely.”