A performance audit report on the New Zealand Blood Service was tabled in Parliament today by the Office of the Auditor-General.

The report, New Zealand Blood Service: Managing the safety and supply of blood products provided an extremely positive assessment of the way the Blood Service operates.

The Auditor-General Lyn Provost said in the overview of the report that "this is a "good news" story. The Blood Service is a high-performing organisation and we have no improvements to recommend".

She said "this country is fortunate in having enough blood for our needs. This self-sufficiency is the direct result of the generosity of volunteer blood donors. The success of the Blood Service in fostering and retaining volunteer donors has helped to achieve this".

The report also noted that the blood service has "A meaningful core value - Safety is our cornerstone - (which) guides the way that the Blood Service works and manages the safety of donors, blood and blood products, and the people who receive Blood Service medicines".

NZBS Chief Executive Fiona Ritsma said "this is a very positive report for the Blood Service. It is a result of the hard work and professionalism of all our staff right across the organisation". Our people can rightly be very proud of their efforts and the service they provide to health services throughout New Zealand.

She also says that "New Zealand's Blood Service can only maintain this high level of performance and its contribution to the health sector with the input of many different stakeholders, in particular the many thousands of people who volunteer to donate blood every week".

"While the report is a very positive endorsement of the performance of the Blood Service to date, we will continue to look for ways to continuously improve the vital services we provide to New Zealand hospitals," Mrs. Ritsma says.