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NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), and TfL have come together to encourage more Londoners to donate blood and become LonDONERS. Blood is used to treat patients with cancer, blood disorders and those suffering medical trauma or undergoing surgery, and, worryingly, blood stock levels have dropped.
42,000 new blood donors in London are needed this year to keep supplying blood for lifesaving treatments. That means over 400 new donors per day are required. This is a lot, but doable if enough people get on board. To put that into perspective, if just six percent of Central Line commuters registered and donated blood just once, the 42,000 donor target would be reached and 126,000 lives could be saved or improved.
Three major donor centres are located only a short walk from three busy Central line underground stations, near Oxford Circus, Westfield Shepherd’s Bush and Westfield Stratford.
David Rose, Director of Donor Experience at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: ‘We need more donors across London to register and donate right now, so we can keep hospitals supplied with lifesaving blood.
‘Many Londoners may not be aware where their nearest blood donor centre is but thanks to London’s transport links, it’s easy - the Central Line on the underground actually serves three of our donor centres which are all only a few hundred metres away from an underground station. Thanks to support from TfL we hope more people will realise how close their nearest donor centre is to home or along their commute to work.’
More donors of Black African and Black Caribbean ethnicity are also needed to help treat people with the blood disorder sickle cell , which is the fastest growing genetic blood disorder in the UK, mostly affecting Black people.
Sickle cell disease took more of a spotlight in recent years with the case of 19-year-old Richard Okorogheye, who went missing in March 2021 after leaving his Ladbroke Grove home without his sickle cell medication.
Betty Njuguna, Chief Nurse at NHS Blood and Transplant said: ‘We currently have blood to meet demand but stocks have dropped and we need to stop them falling further - now. We urgently need more people to book appointments and support our mission of saving and improving more lives – and we particularly need more Black African and Black Caribbean donors. Ro is the blood type which is the fastest growing demand across the whole country, and London is the area with the most need.
‘Last year, hospitals in London asked for 58% more Ro blood than they did five years ago. Demand is expected to continue to rapidly grow. That’s why we urgently require Ro blood donations to meet the increasing demand and ensure every patient gets the donation they need.’
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