It’s National Blood Week and the NHS is calling for more people to become blood donors.
Currently around 800,000 people give blood regularly. That’s just 2% of the population providing all the blood to NHS patients.
Blood is needed to save lives in emergencies, treat cancer and ensure many thousands of people with debilitating long-term conditions can live close to normal lives.
Right now, stocks of blood are low and the NHS urgently needs more donors. If one million people gave blood, the nation’s blood stocks would be healthy.
Please book an appointment at blood.co.uk. Every donation takes about an hour and saves up to three lives.
The NHS particularly needs people to give blood at one of the countries 27 town and city centre donor centres where there is good appointment availability.
In South Yorkshire we have a permanent donor centre in Sheffield. Mobile teams also collect blood at 250 community venues such as church halls around the country each week. The mobile appointments get booked up quickly so finding an appointment in a donor centre is easier for new donors.
The NHS particularly needs to find new donors who have specific blood types – O neg which is the type that can be given to everyone so saves lives in emergencies, and RO which is found in 50 per cent of people of Black African and Black Caribbean heritage and is needed to treat people with sickle cell.
Make an appointment today and find out if you are one of these types the NHS urgently needs.
You can register now and book an appointment online, on the GiveBloodNHS app or by calling 0300 123 23 23.
Daily appointment availability at the donor centres is available here