Human blood in storage
Serious blood shortages have triggered England’s first ever “amber alert”, as officials warn supplies are likely to drop below two day’s worth for some products.
The alert is likely to stay in place for at least four weeks, according to the BBC, which reported the NHS has just over three days’ worth of blood in stock overall.
Officials aim to have five day’s worth of supplies at all times, according to the Independent.
Hospitals will need to follow stricter rules on transfusions, keep lower levels of blood on-site and may need to cancel some operations while supplies are low, the National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) authority warned.
Its call to cancel some elective operations is yet another blow to hospitals struggling to keep on top of a major backlog of surgeries that built up over the pandemic.
Members of the public rushed to book blood donation appointments after the news broke Wednesday afternoon, causing queues of around minutes on the NHSBT website.
The country’s official blood donation website saw a surge in interest following the news.
Blood supplies have been under strain for some time, with the authority declaring a major incident over stock last October. In January, the NHSBT warned supplies were again at a low level.
In July, NHSBT sources told HSJ the authority was close to issuing an amber alert as covid-19 cases rose across the country. At the time, a spokesperson said low staff levels were hampering activity.
He told the publication: “We are experiencing staff shortages at many of our donor centres and mobile teams which has left our operations vulnerable from increases in short-term sickness. This has unfortunately led to some appointments being cancelled.
“To address this we are redeploying staff from elsewhere in NHSBT, using agency staff and contacting ex-employees. We have also increased our marketing activity to attract donors to give blood in town and city centre donor centres which have good appointment availability. ”
The situation appears to have worsened, with staff shortages cited again by the BBC as a likely factor in low blood supplies.
Sharing an NHSBT memo sent to hospitals on Twitter, Sunday Times health editor Shaun Lintern questioned whether the authority would be able to cope with a surge in donations as the public rush to help.
