New strategy for Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation

A healthy and loyal donor community, maximum added value of our products and services to society, and a well-oiled business operation that serves this purpose. These are the spearheads of the Sanquin Foundation strategy for the coming years.

All Sanquin activities will be measured against this yardstick to see how we can create even more value for society. This might be through the increased customization in delivery of blood products to hospitals, the groundbreaking scientific research, or the design of our diagnostic services for the same hospitals and other customers. Read below what Sanquin is committed to in the coming years.

A healthy, loyal donor community

Sanquin is focused on creating a much larger, loyal and healthy donor community, which gives a good reflection of society. In order to significantly intensify plasma collection in particular, we are focusing on recruiting and retaining new donors from different demographic groups. To make this possible, we are redesigning the donor journey, with the aim of increasing donor appreciation and optimizing donation frequency. This means that the interaction with the donor, from start to finish, will become more interactive, more modern, more flexible and more pleasant.

We also want to give the donors something in return for their special gift: a meaningful experience. The donor locations are being given a facelift: contemporary hospitality in an inspiring environment is the credo of this innovation. 'Community thinking' (Sanquin and the donor, joined in a symbiotic relationship, committed to the same goal) will be visible and tangible in both the communication and the visual language. If desired, we will also actively support the donor in monitoring and improving his or her health, and in the long term in the preventative identification of an increased risk of, for example, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, immunity issues and cancer, based on (patterns in a combination of) biomarkers.

The goal is to prevent health problems before they manifest themselves. To this end, we will use data science and artificial intelligence technology to make use of longitudinal health data that are (or may be) available to us. Of course, this will  only be after the donor has given explicit approval. To make this possible, active partnerships are being created with other players in healthcare, science and business. In addition, the concept of “scientific donorship” will be introduced; i.e. donors who, in addition to their bodily material, also donate information about their health status for scientific research.

We continuously monitor our collaboration with donors through research into donor satisfaction, brand perception and behavioral development. Where required, we adjust practical, emotional and logistical aspects of the interaction with the donor. Research specifically aimed at the (health and experience of the) donor will be intensified.

Maximum added value

The second spearhead is maximizing the added value of Sanquin products and services for patients, care providers and society. We will achieve this through continuous development and innovation of our product and service portfolio. In this way, we will develop and improve life-saving products and services, so that every drop of donated blood yields maximum return. Research & development - specifically aimed at this goal - plays a key role in this.

In order to increase Sanquin's innovative strength, Sanquin is professionalising the entire innovation chain – from fundamental research to valorisation and clinical application. There will also be more focus on the time-to-market. Sanquin's goal is not only to develop new knowledge, but also to translate that knowledge as quickly as possible into products and services that are valuable for healthcare and society. In addition, more focus will be placed on the generation of intellectual property rights. In this way we guarantee funding for the next generation of life-saving and improving innovations. To further increase our innovative power, we are actively working on creating and maintaining a network - or ecosystem - of collaborative partners in academia and business.

In this context, Sanquin's research focuses primarily on methods and technologies that replace or improve existing blood products or make their use more efficient and/or more effective. It also focuses on developing new products, such as experimental cell therapy or cultured cells. Sanquin is the specialist and centre of expertise in the field of transfusion medicine through advice, research and training.

In addition to these innovation-oriented activities, Sanquin will increase its value for the healthcare chain by entering into a more active dialogue with hospitals, providing more customised services and improving efficiency. The wishes of the healthcare sector will be continuously monitored and translated back more quickly to the organisation itself. Following on from the donor journey, we will map out the customer journey in order to improve our services to hospitals and other customers, in the field of transport and stock management, among other things.

Operational excellence

The third strategic pillar focuses on creating an organisation that runs like a well-oiled machine. We call this operational excellence. This means that we put the basics in order and that tasks and responsibilities are clearly assigned; with matters such as process management, chain optimisation, ICT (such as privacy, information security and cyber security), corporate social responsibility and risk management. We monitor the quality in the chain at all times, adjusting processes, if necessary, to changing legislation and regulations and implementing a new quality system for recording quality registrations. In addition, we focus on creating a data driven organisation to optimise work processes, from donation to delivery of blood products.

In the context of operational excellence, we will also invest in standardisation and process automation as well as introducing targeted and efficient working methods that combat all forms of waste and unnecessary bureaucracy. In this way we will increase our efficiency and we will continue to focus on reducing costs. Continuous improvement is the starting point, because there is always room for improvement. The contributions of all employees are actively sought out, because specifically they often have ideas about how things can be improved, for the employee, donor and user.

We also aim to be a learning organisation in which employees continue to learn and grow through training, education and internships in similar organisations. This way of thinking is anchored in the capillaries of the organisation.