Blood donor appeal after ‘beast’ leaves stocks low
THE ‘Beast from the East’ has left blood stocks in Greater Manchester badly depleted.
The NHS has now made an urgent appeal for people to ‘do something amazing’ and make potentially lifesaving donations.
Health chiefs say recent periods of snow and bad weather have led to thousands fewer donations than normal.
They are appealing for help building stocks up again ahead of the busy Easter period, when donations also tend to drop.
The NHS Blood and Transplant service is particularly short and is looking for donations from people who are O negative and B negative.
The aim is to have six days-worth of blood stock at a time, but the service only has two or three days-worth of O and B negative.
A statement read: “We urgently need people to donate at our donor centres before Easter and over the Easter weekend.
“We especially need O negative and B negative donors.
“Donations drop at Easter and stocks are already low because of the recent bad weather.
“We are urging people to donate blood at our permanent donor centres.
“We still have extra appointments and walkin slots available.
“Thanks to the fantastic response from donors, our sessions in community venues are almost full, but we need more to make sure hospital patients get the blood they need.”
There are 86 appointments available at the donation bank in Manchester city centre, at Norfolk House just off Market Street.
Appointments can be made for Thursday between 11am and 6.40pm, Friday (March 30) between 8.20am and 4pm and Monday (April 2) between 8.20am and 4pm.
There are also some appointments at the donor centre on Plymouth Grove in Longsight.
Existing donors do not have to make an appointment.
For more information on becoming a donor, or to arrange an appointment, visit blood.co.uk or call 0300 123 23 23.