A perfect storm of increased demand of O type blood from hospitals and reduced collections due to high levels of unfilled appointments has caused stocks of blood to drop to unprecedentedly low levels.

NHS Blood and Transplant has written to hospitals to issue an “Amber Alert” asking them to restrict the use of O type blood to essential cases and use substitutions where clinically safe to do so.

O negative and O positive donors are asked to urgently book and fill appointments at donor centres.

Today, national stocks of O Negative are 1.6 days and overall national stocks of blood across all types is 4.3 days. On average, there are around 50,000 appointments to fill each week. There are over 12,000 appointments still to fill in donor centres across England over the next two weeks including 658 at Birmingham Donor Centre.

An Amber Alert is an important part of the NHS’s business continuity plan for blood stocks. It triggers hospitals being able to:  

• implement their emergency measures to minimise usage; 
• move staff to laboratories to vet the use of all O type blood; and  
• use patient blood management systems to minimise use of O type blood.

O negative is the type that can be given to anyone – known as the universal blood type. It is used in emergencies or when a patient’s blood type is unknown.

Air ambulances and emergency response vehicles carry O negative supplies. Just 8 per cent of the population have type O Negative but it makes up for around 16 per cent of hospital orders. 

Hospitals will continue to carry out urgent, emergency or trauma surgery, cancer surgery, transplant surgery and blood transfusions to treat people with long term conditions. 

The ongoing cyber incident which has affected London hospitals has impacted O negative stocks. Since the start of the incident in June, those hospitals have needed an additional 1.7 days of O negative – a 94 per cent increase compared to the same period last year and equating to 170 additional O negative donations every week. 

Summer is always a more challenging time for getting people in to donate blood – big public sporting events can see a reduction in people booking in to donate, holidays and travel abroad can also reduce availability, while changeable weather and unexpectedly hot days can see an increase in people unable to give blood due to a lack of hydration or lower iron levels in their blood. 

NHSBT runs 235 mobile sessions a week in community venues which are regularly close to fully booked. Sessions in the 25 donor centres such as the Birmingham centre at 65 New Street right in the city centre, have a higher number of appointments available.

To supply hospitals with the 1.5 million units of blood they need to treat patients, appointments need to be close to fully booked all year round. Chief Executive, Dr Jo Farrar, says: 

“We urgently need more O group donors in Birmingham to come forward and help boost stocks to treat patients needing treatment.

“Last month we saw an incredible response from donors who answered our call and filled up our centres, helping us meet the increased demands for blood throughout June.

”However, seven weeks on, the need for O negative blood in particular remains critical.  

“We’re making an additional 1000 appointments per week available, please take a moment to go online and book. If you can’t find an appointment immediately, please book in for coming days, weeks and months. We will have an ongoing need for donations. Thank you everyone for your support.”

Register today and book an appointment to donate via the GiveBloodNHS app or at blood.co.uk.