‘The need for blood never stops.’ Those were the words of Gerry Gogarty, Director of Blood Supply at NHS Blood and Transplant, back at the start of May. But now, more than ever, there is an urgent plea for blood donors across the country—with thousands of appointments to fill, particularly for O negative donors.
More than 5,000 donations are needed every day in England to ensure hospitals have the blood—for anything from a traumatic injury to childbirth, sickle cell disease and conditions like anaemia. The NHS Blood Donation aims to have a six-day supply of all blood in stock, and will prioritise appointments for blood types running low i.e. O negative.
What is O negative?
O negative donors are often called ‘universal donors’ because anyone can receive the red blood cells from their donations. Meanwhile, only people with O negative blood can receive red cell donations from O negative donors. For this reason, emergency response vehicles carry O negative supplies for emergencies.
So, while 8% of the population has O negative blood, it often accounts for around 13% of hospital requests. As such, it’s important stocks of O negative blood are kept high, but despite this, only 13% of blood donors have O negative blood—that’s compared to 35% of donors who have O positive blood.
Why else give blood?
Whether your blood type is rare (like AB negative or O negative) or more common (O positive or A positive), everyone’s donations are vital in helping save lives. That being said, people with O negative are the most needed right now.
There’s also a specific need for more Black, Asian and minority ethnic donors because the best blood matches typically come from blood donors of the same background.
Without calling your mum, giving blood is also the easiest way to find out what blood type you are! I’m sure many of you reading this have no clue, and you’ll find out yours after your first donation.
Who can donate blood?
Most can give blood, but there are a few barriers to hurdle first. You must be generally fit and healthy, aged between 17 and 65, and weigh between 7 stone 12 lbs (50kg) and 25 stone (158kg). Those with most types of cancer, HIV, hepatitis B or C, or heart conditions, or who have injected non-prescribed drugs, had an organ transplant, or received blood, platelets, plasma or any other blood products since 1980, cannot donate.
How can I give blood?
There are 25 permanent donor centres in major cities and towns all over the country—including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol—that are often open on evenings and weekends, with many more venues also available.
The easiest way to find your closest venue with a suitable appointment is to register online first and pass an eligibility test (it won’t take long, it’s just to confirm that you tick all the boxes). Only then can you book an appointment online or via the NHS Give Blood app.
There are more appointments for more urgent blood types, like O negative, and fewer where demand is lower, like AB positive, but all are welcome. Your entire appointment should take no longer than an hour, with a full donation of 470ml typically taking between five and 10 minutes. Afterwards, you are encouraged to relax for 15 minutes and have at least two drinks.
You can learn more about how to give blood by heading here.