Transfusion service urgently seeks blood donations as supply is 'very low'

Eva Osborne

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has said it is urgently seeking an additional 2,000 blood donations over the next four weeks to support the national blood supply, as most blood groups have fallen to under three days of stock.

Director of donor services and logistics, Paul McKinney, said the IBTS aims to have seven days' supply, but current levels, including O negative, A negative, and B negative, are under three days' supply.

O positive (at nearly half the population) is "very low" at 3.5 days, he said.

“There has been a consistently high hospital demand for blood over the summer months and in August we issued the highest amount of blood units to hospitals in over a decade," McKinney explained.

“This high demand has continued through September and, with a Bank Holiday fast approaching, we need to boost our collections by nearly 500 donations per week in all blood groups to be able to continue to meet the demand.

"High sickness levels, holiday travel combined with the traditional back-to-school demands, have all had an impact on donor availability throughout the summer and now into autumn.”

The IBTS is asking regular donors who are texted for upcoming clinics over the coming weeks to make an extra effort to attend, especially in Dublin and Cork where there is clinic availability every week.

"This is vital to address the increased demand from hospitals," McKinney said,

“Potential new donors should visit giveblood.ie and take our quick eligibility test and call us on 1800 731137 to make an appointment.

"We would particularly encourage new donors of African Heritage to join the National blood donor panel to help us diversify the donor base and get better blood type matches for patients.

‘’A pre-amber alert letter was issued to all hospitals on September 27th, restricting issues of certain blood groups and hospitals have been asked to reduce their stock holding.

"This enables the IBTS to manage the limited blood supply available more effectively across the health service. If the IBTS has to issue an ‘amber alert letter’ which is the next escalation level of the blood shortage plan, it would have an immediate implication for hospitals and for elective surgical procedures requiring blood support."