One million blood donors needed to avert NHS crisis

Blood stocks at breaking point with just 2% of nation donating

- 

The NHS has warned it needs one million regular blood donors to prevent a critical shortage, after a year of dangerously low stocks and rising demand.

Low blood stocks prompted officials to issue an "amber alert" over supply for hospitals last year and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) said that more must be done to avoid a "red alert", which means that blood supply is so low that there is a threat to public safety.

Officials described the last year as "challenging" for blood stocks, highlighting how just two per cent of the population keep the nation's blood stocks afloat.

This means just under 800,000 people sustained the whole of England's blood supply over the past 12 months and NHSBT said one million donors are needed to meet demand.

NHSBT said that there has been a rise in the number of people who registered to be donors in the last year, but only 24% of these have gone on to donate.