Call for more blood donors to fill appointments as NHS steps up planned surgery in run up to Christmas

The NHS urgently needs more people with specific blood types to come forward as hospitals work to reduce the backlog of planned surgery as well as preparing for the usual busy winter period.

New figures reveal that hospitals across England are currently ordering almost 400 units of blood a week more than usual as they work hard to reduce elective surgery waiting lists in the lead up to Christmas. This, plus ongoing commitment to high numbers of routine blood transfusions and exchanges for conditions including sickle cell and cancer, is creating high demand for critical types including O negative (the universal blood type), B negative and the Ro subtype, which is predominantly found in people of Black African and Black Caribbean heritages.

Winter is always a challenging time for blood stocks as bad weather, seasonal illness and busier diaries lead to more unfilled and missed appointments, and at the same time demand for blood from hospitals can rise. This can particularly impact stocks of vital O negative blood, which is the universal blood type used for all patients in emergencies, and B negative, one of the rarer blood types, found in just 2% of the population.

NHS Blood and Transplant and NHS England are appealing for donors to come forward and fill 136,000 appointments available over the next eight weeks to help boost stocks and ensure the NHS can meet this additional demand for blood as we head into the winter period.

The NHS needs 10,000 extra O negative donors to book in to donate before Christmas, in order to ensure hospitals have the blood they need to treat patients in emergency situations, including during childbirth as well as any accidents or incidents which cause a patient to suffer major blood loss. O negative blood is the type carried by ambulances and air ambulances and can be given to patients at the scene before they are transferred to hospital. O negative blood is only found in 8 per cent of the population, but accounts for over 16 per cent of all blood used by hospitals.

More Ro blood - a blood subtype most common among people of Black heritage – is also needed due to an increasing number of patients reliant on regular transfusions or full blood exchanges. When Ro blood isn’t available, O negative and B negative are both frequently used as a substitute, which places extra demand on stocks of these vital blood types.

Mark Chambers Director of Donor Experience at NHS Blood and Transplant, says:

"Right now, we are calling for the help of donors with specific blood types to keep blood stocks strong by booking an appointment to donate in the crucial weeks between now and Christmas.

"With over 100,000 appointments available to book over the next 8 weeks, we are urging those with the blood types O negative, B negative and Ro to come in and donate. If you can't see an available appointment on our site, call us and we will find you one.

"Donating a unit of blood takes just an hour and each donation can save up to three lives. We also really need new donors so we can find more people with these specific types. If you’ve never given blood before, please book into one of our 28 town and city centre blood donor centres where we have good appointment availability."

How you can help

NHS Blood and Transplant has 28 donor centres situated in major towns and cities and these centres will usually have the best availability, however additional appointments are also being added at mobile community sessions around the country.

Existing donors with Ro, O negative or B negative blood types will be given priority access to appointments and are urged to call the helpline if they are struggling to find availability.

Hospitals across England need more than 5,000 blood donations every day to ensure they have the blood they need to treat patients for a wide variety of reasons, including traumatic injuries or accidents, cancer treatments, sickle cell and childbirth as well as planned surgery.

Book an appointment today on our website, the GiveBlood app or calling 0300 123 23 23.