My father, a programmer, has been a constant inspiration to me. During his career he developed a Blood Audit Release System, (the first of its kind) to ensure patients are transfused with the correct blood type. After CJD was first discovered, transfusions were common and mistakes were made. My father and his partner developed BARS (Blood Audit Release System, a barcoded blood tracking system to eliminate errors.

Each element in the process; the patient, the nurse/doctor, the fridge, the blood pack and the notes all have barcodes that are easily scanned. These then have to align to a. allow the fridge to open and b. to allow the blood to be transfused into the correct patient. The system went on to be installed into many hospitals including those within the Nuffield Trust.

Although I didn’t have the experience I have now, my father put me to use in producing all the promotional material. This involved many conversations to understand the device before I could begin to relay the messaging to others through his marketing.