The journey of plasma

From a donor’s arm to a patient’s medicine, the plasma that is donated every day makes a long and lifesaving journey. Our new animation shows the way:

Video transcript

We are NHS Blood and Transplant. Thanks to the hard work, skill and dedication of our staff and partners, we save lives across our country every day.

But none of it is possible without our amazing blood and plasma donors. Let's meet two of them.

Hi, I'm Rakesh and today I'm donating plasma in Birmingham. My plasma can be used to treat over 50 diseases and supports cancer treatments, so I know it will make a big difference to people's lives.

Hi, I'm Sophie and today I'm donating blood in Manchester. Plasma can be taken from my donation and can be used to create lifesaving medicines.

Amazing donors like Rakesh and Sophie give their plasma to make unique, lifesaving medicines that can do incredible things. They can build up immune systems, treat heart conditions, help trauma and burns patients, support cancer treatments, and even save the lives of mums and babies during pregnancy.

But what happens next? Your plasma is collected from your blood or plasma donation and embarks on a journey the moment it leaves your vein. Let's follow it step by step as we welcome you to the incredible journey of a plasma donation.

I'm James and I work in the plasma processing lab. The first thing we do is test your plasma donation to make sure it's safe to use. It is then frozen in a specialist freezer.

Your plasma could now go on two different journeys. Some plasma is transfused to treat patients in urgent situations like surgeries or severe burns. But most plasma is sent to specialist processing facilities in Europe, where it's combined with lots of people's donations and turned into lifesaving medicines.

Hello, I'm Emma. I transport plasma to a specialist facility where it's carefully received and prepared to become medicines.

Welcome. I'm Doctor Leung and this is where the magic happens. Plasma is thawed, combined with other donations and processed to extract essential proteins like immunoglobulins and albumin. These proteins are vital as they fight infections, treat diseases, and are the key ingredients in many lifesaving treatments.

Hi there. I'm Alex. I make sure that after processing, every plasma batch undergoes rigorous testing to ensure the medicines are safe for patients.

Hello! I'm Olivia. I make sure every bottle of plasma medicine is labeled, and so it's packaged perfectly for those who need it. Once ready, the plasma returns to the UK as precious medicines, ready to be distributed to hospitals across the country and used to save and improve thousands of lives.

I'm Kamal. I make sure that these vital plasma medicines get to the hospitals and patients who need them. Patients like Candi.

My name is Candi and I have a condition called Myasthenia Gravis, which means my immune system attacks my own body. This can cause muscle weakness, tightness, and difficulty swallowing. It can become life-threatening.

I receive plasma medicine every two weeks. From the first day of my treatment, my life changed. I could see clearly, taste food again and walk without becoming really tired. The medicine is truly lifesaving.

It takes over 100 donations a year to help me live a normal life. I'm so thankful to everyone who donates.

Candi is not alone. More than 17,000 people in the UK rely on plasma medicines to stay alive. Their lives are saved and improved because of kind people’s blood and plasma donations.

Thank you to all our blood and plasma donors, staff and partners. You're all heroes and this lifesaving journey would not be possible without you.

Join our journey to save lives. Visit blood.co.uk to become a blood or plasma donor.

At the donor centre

There are 3 plasma donor centres: Birmingham, Reading and Twickenham. It takes many people to run a donor centre, doing everything from cleaning to calibrating the equipment to ordering the all-important post-donation snacks.

Plasma donations are made through a machine which separates the plasma from the rest of a donor’s blood. The plasma is kept and the rest of the blood is returned via the same needle. This takes around 35-45 minutes.

A smaller amount of plasma is also donated when people give blood – plasma makes up around 55% of a blood donation.

Testing and freezing

Additional samples of blood are collected alongside plasma donations. These are tested for a range of diseases to keep patients safe.

The donated plasma is frozen and most of it is sent to Europe to be processed.

Across the Channel

In Europe, the plasma is thawed then processed to extract proteins like immunoglobulins and albumin. These proteins can be made into unique, lifesaving medicines. Every year, around 17,000 people in England rely on the medicines made from plasma.

In hospital

Most plasma is used to create medicines which can treat over 50 different diseases, including immune disorders, heart conditions, and infectious diseases.

Some plasma is also used directly to treat patients with severe burns or those undergoing surgery.

This means donated plasma builds up immune systems, treats heart conditions, helps trauma and burns patients, supports cancer treatments, and even saves the lives of mums and babies during pregnancy.

To find out more about plasma donation, visit our plasma donation website.