An ‘urgent’ increase in stocks of O- and B-negative blood is needed in England as stocks run low due to canceled donor appointments and growing demand from hospitals under pressure.
The NHS Blood and Transplant Service (NHSBT) is encouraging people with O and B negative blood types to donate blood in the coming days and weeks. Stocks of O-negatives were reduced to blood for two days, and stocks of B-negatives for three days.
The alert comes just months after the NHSBT issued its first-ever yellow alert for hospitals as total blood supplies fell below three days due to severe staffing shortages and some elective surgeries had to be cancelled.
With a full blood supply in six days and no impact on hospital supplies, the orange warning would not be considered, an NHSBT spokesman said. It is clear that hospitals can have a blood supply of 3.6 days more.
The service has written to hospitals in England asking them to check how much blood they have and order only what they need. He also contacted donors directly – by phone, email or text message.
The O-negative blood type is the most common blood type that can be used in emergency surgery and transfusions when the person’s blood type is unknown. About 740 additional units of O-negative blood have been provided to hospitals in the last two weeks.
David Rose, director of donor outreach at NHSBT, said the service turned down more donors than usual.
“Primarily due to seasonal illnesses and holidays, as well as growing demand for O-negative blood from hospitals, putting pressure on supplies.
“In the coming days and weeks, we need O- and B-negative donors first and foremost to urgently increase their numbers.”
He encouraged those donors to call the service to schedule a donation.
The number of appointments canceled at short notice increased by 16 percent between November and December to 12,900 in December.
Last year, a chronic shortage of staff in the blood donation service saw the number of canceled patient appointments rise to more than 22,000 in September, shortly before the critical warning. An NHSBT spokesman said most of the recent cancellations were due to donors, not vacancies.
Mr Rose said some people with other blood types may have rescheduled appointments due to blood donation, which could be “disappointing” for them.
“But it’s a necessary step so we can keep supplying hospitals with the right blood type.”
People can find out how to make an appointment on the NHSBT website..
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.