A blood shortage in hospitals in England has lead to fears that supplies needed to carry out operations may run out. According to reports, supplies of the common O blood types are down to less than three days’ worth leaving the NHS supply network on the brink.
It has been revealed that NHS Blood and Transplant has already written to hospitals asking them not to over-order supplies. Meanwhile the Health Service Journal reports that the system is in “crisis mode” and that hospitals are planning for if the situation gets worse.
If supplies drop to two days, NHSBT will trigger an 'amber alert' which could lead to hospitals having to cancel planned operations, reports the Mirror. The news comes after the Mirror launched a campaign to help NHSBT recruit the 75,000 regular blood donors it is short of as the health service recovers from the pandemic.
