Fresh appeal for blood donors amid concerns stocks could decline if demand rises

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has launched a fresh appeal for blood donors and warned stocks could decline again if demand rises.

The call comes after an amber alert was issued for the second time ever in July, when stocks of O negative and O positive blood fell to “unprecedentedly low levels”.

NHSBT said stocks have since improved due to the response from donors and hospitals temporarily using less blood.

However, the amber alert remains in place, with warnings that stocks could decline again once demand returns to normal.

Wendy Clark, deputy chief executive of NHSBT, added: “We are enormously grateful to our amazing donors who have answered our call and filled up our sessions, and to all the hospitals that have supported us by reducing stock holding and orders.

“The recent increase in stock levels is encouraging but we need to be able to cope with hospitals going back to normal ordering once we come out of amber.”

The cyber attack on pathology services provider Synnovis in June affected blood stocks.

Major London hospitals, including King’s College Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas , were unable to carry out blood transfusions and were forced to cancel operations and tests.

Stocks of universal blood type O negative – which can be given to anyone – are currently at 7.8 days, while overall stocks across all types are at 8.6 days.

This is compared to O negative stock of 1.6 days and 4.3 days across all other types when the amber alert was triggered last month.

However, blood stocks have a shelf life of 35 days so must be constantly replenished.

NHSBT said donor centres have been 90% full since the amber alert was declared.

However, only 40% of appointments have been taken for the middle of September, with the figure dropping to 21% by the end of October.

Ms Clark added: “The amber alert can only be removed once we are confident that stocks have reached a strong and sustainable level.

“To achieve this we need donors to keep up the momentum. If you haven’t stepped forward yet, we need you to do so now or in the weeks ahead.

“Our fixed donor centres in towns and cities have thousands of unfilled appointments as we move into autumn.”