NHS warns of continued short supply of blood in England

In July, for only the second time in its history, the NHS warned hospitals that stocks of O-type blood – which can be given to the vast majority of patients – were running low enough to have an impact on patient treatment. This is known as an amber alert.

The NHS said it was due to a “perfect storm” of unfilled appointments at donor centres and increased demand following a cyber-attack, which affected services in London.

At that time, stocks of O negative stood at just 1.6 days, and 4.3 days for all types of blood.

O negative blood is universal and can be given to anyone. It is used in emergencies or when a patient’s blood type is unknown.

O positive blood is the most common type and about 35% of donors have it. It can be given to anybody with a positive blood type and all men and women past childbearing age.

Stocks of O negative blood are now at 7.8 days and overall stocks of all blood types have risen to 8.6 days, said NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), the body that oversees England’s blood donation system as well as the UK-wide organ donor network.

The improvement follows a slight reduction in hospital demand for all blood types.

NHSBT’s Wendy Clark said they were very grateful to donors who answered the call to fill up sessions – and to hospitals for helping out as well – but warned more needs to be done.

She said: “The amber alert can only be removed once we are confident that stocks have reached a strong and sustainable level.

“To achieve this we need donors to keep up the momentum. If you haven’t stepped forward yet, we need you to do so now or in the weeks ahead.”