The NHS has issued an urgent appeal for blood donations in Greater Manchester as appointments fall empty amid rising cold and flu cases.
The appeal comes just a few months after a national blood donation crisis. In October, blood supplies fell to a critically low level across England, leading to the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) service to declare its first-ever amber alert.
The NHSBT is now asking people in Manchester to make giving blood to save lives 'their New Year’s resolution and book an appointment to donate in the next few days and weeks to help ensure hospitals get the blood they need this winter'. The NHS says it particularly needs O and B Neg donors who have an appointment over the next days and weeks to keep them if they are fit and healthy.
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Back in October, the main challenge was running enough blood donation sessions as the service is hamstrung by chronic staff shortages. Hospitals were told to implement plans to protect their stocks, meaning non-urgent operations requiring blood would have to be postponed to ensure they were prioritised for patients who need them most.
This January, the appeal follows a higher than usual number of cancellations by donors due to seasonal illnesses and holiday disruptions, as well as a rise in demand for O negative blood from hospitals. This is affecting the NHS’ ability to collect enough of the right blood types. Supplies of O and B negative blood are under pressure and urgently need to be rebuilt.
'Winter is always a challenging time for blood stocks', NHSBT has said, adding that 'blood stocks in England always reach their annual low point in the first week of January'. NHS Blood and Transplant aims to hold above six days of blood stocks at any given time - in October, this figure was down to 3.1 days and levels of O type blood fell to below two days.
Anyone with an upcoming appointment is being asked to stick to it if they are fit and well. And any O and B negative blood donors who don’t have a booking are asked to urgently call 0300 303 2096 to find a priority space.
There are 763 available appointments at Manchester Norfolk House donor centre over the next four weeks, the NHS has said, though potential donors are asked check locally to see if there are any appointments available at short notice at Manchester Plymouth Grove donor centre too. If needed, the NHS says it will swap out other appointments to prioritise booking in donors with these two most needed blood types.
More than half of donors who cancelled their appointments over the last seven days cited sickness as the reason in a survey. December saw the highest number of cancelled appointments of winter so far, around 16 per cent more than in November. For every two appointments that went ahead, one more was cancelled at short notice, which the NHS then had to try to refill.
There is also concern that public transport travel disruption could be putting some people off booking an appointment to donate, as many of the NHS’ 25 Blood Donor Centres in England are based in city or town centres.
As well as seasonal illnesses affecting how much blood the NHS can collect, hospitals are ordering more O negative blood than expected, according to the NHSBT. Around 740 more units of O negative blood were issued to hospitals in the past two weeks. This is 'putting pressure on blood stocks, which is why donors are being asked to stick to their appointment and O and B negative donors to book urgently to help build stocks', confirmed the NHSBT.
"There are many O negative blood donors who may not have donated in a while – and so the NHS is also urging these people to consider making their New Year’s resolution to book their next appointment now," said the service.
"A recent YouGov survey found one in five existing blood donors only donate once a year or less. Yet healthy donors are generally eligible to make their next appointment every 12 weeks for men or 16 weeks for women.
"To help make access to donating easier at the Manchester Norfolk House Donor Centre in the city centre on Brown Street, Manchester, M2 1DA, there is nearby parking available at Selfridges Car Park, No. 1 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 1AZ and Arndale Car Park, High Street, Manchester, M4 1AZ.
"Each donation takes up to an hour and can save or improve up to three lives. The NHS needs 6,000 units of blood each day to ensure patients get the blood they need."
David Rose, Director of Donor Experience at NHS Blood and Transplant said: "Make a New Year’s Resolution to Give Blood and save three lives. Please book an appointment to donate at Manchester Norfolk House Donor Centre in the next few days and weeks.
“We are seeing higher than usual cancellations by donors due to seasonal illnesses and holiday disruption. If you are fit and well, please keep your appointment to help us build stocks.
“We particularly need O and B negative donors in the next few days and weeks to urgently increase supplies. If you are one of those donors and you don’t have a booking, please call us and we will find you a space. We might need to move the appointments of donors with other blood types to accommodate this, which will be frustrating for them, but it’s a necessary step to ensure that we can keep supplying hospitals with the right type of blood.”
Most town and city centre donor centres have appointments available although most community sessions are full for the next few weeks, says NHSBT. Donors are asked to check back again, as there may be an appointment that has been cancelled at short notice. Alternatively, donors are asked to look for an appointment in the future or further afield – blood is needed all year round.
Although about 8 per cent of the population has O negative blood, it usually accounts for around 13 per cent of hospital requests for red blood cells - though currently hospitals are requesting even more. O negative blood is often called the ‘universal blood type’ because people of any blood type can receive it. This makes it vitally important in an emergency or when a patient’s blood type is unknown. One in seven people have O negative blood, which is why new blood donors are needed to help identify more people with O negative.
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