BLOOD SUPPLIES BELOW MINIMUM EVERY 2 WEEKS
Labour’s fury at NHS donor crisis
STOCKS of blood fell below the minimum required levels more than a dozen times in just six months, it has emerged.
A shock NHS report has revealed there were 13 separate occasions nationally when “unexpected challenges” included supply shortages.
The crisis – blamed on a number of factors including closures of donor sessions – equated to stocks being below the minimum amount once every two weeks.
Last night Labour demanded an “urgent reassurance” from the Government that it has a plan to tackle blood shortages.
It said the NHS was beset by “mounting problems” and accused Health Secretary Matt Hancock of being distracted by concentrating on trying to secure his political future amid the ongoing turmoil in the Tory Party. The blast came after a report by NHS Blood and Transplant said stocks “persistently” fell below required thresholds during the first half of the year between April 2018 and March 2019.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “This is a deeply worrying revelation and we need urgent reassurance they have a plan to ensure this lifesaving service is operating at a level with suitable blood stocks.
“The Health Secretary constantly takes his eye off the ball to focus on securing a new job in Boris Johnson’s cabinet. Patients deserve a focus on problems in the NHS for a change.”
As well as session closures, the shortages were blamed on new iron testing procedures and bad weather.
Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, national officer for health of the Unite union, said the report “adds a mosaic of concern about the deteriorating state of the NHS under the Tories”.
Gill Morgan from the Royal College of Nursing said: “Unions have repeatedly advised that session closures were a bad idea and could imperil stocks.”