NHS seeks 200,000 more blood donors in England to avoid threat to safety

The NHS needs to fill a shortfall of more than 200,000 blood donors in England to avoid a threat to public safety, officials have said.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) wants to hit a target of 1 million blood donors to meet growing demand as just under 800,000 people – 2% of the population in England – kept the nation’s blood stocks afloat last year.

An amber alert was issued last year over supply of blood for hospitals in England, and NHSBT said more was needed to avoid a red alert, meaning supply is so low that there is a threat to public safety.

NHSBT’s chief executive, Dr Jo Farrar, said: “Our stocks over the past 12 months have been challenging. If we had a million regular donors, this would help keep our stocks healthy – you’d truly be one in a million.”

The service said there had been a rise in the number of people who registered to be donors in the last year, but only 24% of these had gone on to donate.

The amber alert was triggered in July 2024 after a cyber-attack on London hospitals, and blood stocks have remained low ever since, officials said.

NHSBT said there was a critical need for more donors who have the so-called universal blood type, O-negative, which is needed for treatment in emergencies.

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Source: The Guardian, 9 June 2025