Donate blood Sheffield: City steps up after 'amber alert' leads to huge increase in donations

On October 12, the NHS issued its first ever ‘amber alert’ that blood supplies for running dangerously low. In fact, when the warning was triggered, the country was set to fall below two days worth of stock, putting surgeries at risk of being cancelled.

Now, Sheffield’s main donation centre is reporting a new problem – not that they don’t have enough donations, but they don’t have enough appointments to give out due to Steel City residents stepping up and braving the needle.

In fact, the centre on Church Street has gone from seeing 84 per cent of appointments filled over the summer to being fully booked for the next four weeks, and less than 100 spaces are free in the week after that.

Nationally, blood stocks are now at four days or more for all blood types, and stocks of O+ are above five days worth for the first time since April. However, before the amber alert can be lifted, the NHS needs to be confident stocks are secure to cope with winter pressures, when poor weather, illness and accidents surrounding the festive season increase demand.

Another issue is an ongoing effort to recruit more staff to join the blood and donation team to accommodate more donations.

Wendy Clark, chief executive of NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Thank you to everyone who has made an appointment to donate and to all the hospitals that have supported us by reducing demand. Amber Alert is a vital measure to protect patients who need blood the most.

“We are working hard to secure our stocks so we can lift the alert as soon as possible. We apologise to those patients whose surgery has been postponed.

“We are making progress to fill our vacancies through temporary and permanent staff so we can make more appointments to donate blood available over the coming months.”

NHSBT is now asking existing donors to book appointments in the run up to Christmas, and especially to make sure they keep them if possible.