Changing to plasma donation

If you already donate blood, you could help us in a different way and try plasma donation.

Plasma can be made into medicine which saves and improves the lives of over 17,000 people in England each year.

By giving plasma you could help build a person's antibodies, help to heal burns, protect pregnancies, and help babies' hearts to continue to beat.

You can donate plasma more often than you can donate blood, because the recovery time is shorter. Many of our plasma donors donate up to 6 times per year, although you can donate plasma as often as every 2 weeks, if you wish.

Can I change to plasma donation?

You may be able to change to plasma donation if you:

are able to travel to a donor centre in Birmingham, Reading or Twickenham
Have enough blood to donate safely. Check how much blood you have
have suitable veins and a normal pulse (we will check these before you donate)

Check how much blood you have

We need to know your height and weight before you donate plasma. This is so the machine we use to collect plasma can calculate how much blood you have and work out how much plasma you can safely donate.

Use this tool to check if you have enough blood to donate.

The calculation uses your gender and height to tell you the minimum weight you need to be to donate.

Results:

Estimate

How does plasma donation work?

Giving plasma is simple and takes around an hour, with the donation itself only taking around 35 minutes.

During the donation:

your blood is taken from a vein in your arm
a machine separates your plasma from your blood cells and collects it in a donation bag
your red cells are returned to your arm using the same needle

How do I change to plasma donation?

It's easy to change to plasma donation in your online account.

You just need to:

log in to your account using this link
scroll down and click on 'find your first plasma appointment'
book yourself in for a plasma appointment

If you are an O negative or Ro donor and are interested in changing to plasma, give us a call and we can discuss it with you. Call the donor helpline on 0300 123 23 23.