It was reported on 4 June that a major cyber attack on the NHS blood and transfusion service had meant that major hospitals in London had declared a major incident. Now the NHS is appealing for blood donors.
Cyber attack
The attack led to a cancellation of operations and the loss of blood transfusions across London.
It was noted that memos to primary care services in London and NHS staff at King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas said that pathology partner Synnovis had been hit by what was described as a “major IT incident”.
It was further noted that:
“Synnovis is a provider of pathology services and was formed from a partnership between SynLab UK & Ireland, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust”.
The memos also said the “critical incident” had had a ““major impact” on the delivery of services, with blood transfusions particularly affected.”
Appeal for O blood-type donors
Consequently on 10 June, it was reported that the NHS had launched an appeal for O blood-type donors to book appointments across England after the ransomware attack affecting major London hospitals.
It was noted that that the NHS Blood and Transplant Service is appealing for O blood-type donations as this is safe to use for all patients. At present, the affected hospitals cannot match patients’ blood quickly enough.
As a result, NHS Blood and Transplant said:
“NHS Blood and Transplant is calling for O-positive and O-negative blood donors to book appointments in one of the 25 NHS blood donor centres in England to boost stocks. The hospitals affected by the cyber-attack cannot match patients’ blood at the same frequency as usual.”
It was also noted that, “for surgeries and procedures requiring blood to take place, hospitals need to use O-type blood as this is safe to use for all patients. Blood has a shelf life of 35 days, so stocks need to be continually replenished, the NHS said. That means more units of these types of blood than usual will be required over the coming weeks.
“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. 8% of the population have type O-negative but it comprises about 15% of hospital orders. O-positive is the most common blood type, 35% of donors have it, and it can be given to anybody with any positive blood type. This means three in every four people, or 76% of the population, can benefit from an O-positive donation.”
How to donate blood
To contact the NHS Blood and Transfusion about donating blood, phone 0300 123 23 23 or go here.
The main blood donor centre in the North East is in Newcastle at Holland Drive, Newcastle, NE2 4NQ.
The NHS also say that as well as the 25 main centres across the country, there are also thousands of temporary community-based venues where you can give blood. The website notes that, “donations take place in a variety of buildings – for example church halls, sports centres, mosques, football stadiums and hotels. Find your local blood donation venue and book an appointment here.“
The NHS Blood and Transfusion service usually visit these venues two or three times per year, but this can be more often, “depending on the number of local blood donors.”
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