BLOOD TRANSFUSION - still active

Following the government’s announcement last night, we would like to update you on our position in assisting the NHS to manage the impact of Coronavirus, and the continuation of blood supply to our hospitals by enabling essential blood donation sessions to continue.

We can confirm that blood donation is essential travel under the category of ‘medical need and helping a vulnerable person’. We are continuing to work closely with the Department of Health, Public Health England, and the UK’s blood donation services during this period. We are therefore calling on all our venues such as yourselves to support us during this time by honouring any bookings that we currently have.

As mentioned in our previous communications to you, we’re continuing to use our website and direct communications to remind donors about the importance of hygiene, travel guidance, and not coming to sessions if they feel unwell. Our teams are already trained in thorough universal hygiene precautions to prevent the spread of all infections and additional measures have been put in place to support this. We have attached our latest risk assessment to highlight these.

Safety is always our number one priority and blood donation sessions remain safe. We intend to ensure this as the need to collect blood to supply the NHS is paramount at this time. Blood donation is essential to the NHS and donors will still be able to attend sessions, whatever limits there may be on non-essential travel or gatherings.