The NHS has issued an urgent plea for blood donors after warning national supplies are set to run out within hours.
Doctors urged people with O-type blood to donate, with national stocks of O-Negative projected to run out by Saturday. The health service said it has less than 5 days stock of all types of blood in what it described as an “unprecedented” shortage.
They called on people with the universal blood group O-negative, as well as O-positive donors, to urgently book into donor centres.
Just 8 per cent of the population have type O-Negative but it makes up for around 16 per cent of hospital orders, according to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT).
The health service said it was facing a “perfect storm” after a cyber attack impacted London hospitals in June.
Dr Gail Miflin NHSBT’s chief medical officer said: “Three blood donations are needed every minute in hospitals to deal with emergencies, childbirth and routine treatments. Blood only has a shelf life of 35 days so the NHS needs blood all year round. There are just under 800,000 regular blood donors, 108,000 of whom are O Negative. Ultimately, we need more people to be regular blood donors and come to one of our 25 donor centres.”
Source: Independent, 27 July 2024
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