The NHS needs one million people to regularly donate blood to meet demand, they said in a major new recruitment drive.
Low stocks prompted officials to issue an ‘amber alert’ over supply for hospitals last year – and stocks have remained low ever since, officials said.
The situation over the last year has been ‘challenging’, with authorities highlighting that just under 800,000 people donated last year, which is around 2% of the eligible adult population.
This means an annual shortfall of over 200,000 donors to meet growing demand for more than 5,000 donations every day, as well as more to replace those who can no longer donate due to old age or medical conditions.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) called on people to sign up as donors, saying 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.
The group which oversees blood stocks said 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 actually gone on to donate.
At the moment in the UK, men can give blood at maximum every 12 weeks (four times a year), and women every 16 weeks (three times a year), due to differing iron levels, although there are some calls to reduce these intervals.
Supplies are needed for emergencies, such as if someone loses a lot of blood in a trauma situation, but also for surgeries, including cancer operations and transplants, which require blood. Patients with conditions like sickle cell disease, thalassemia, or leukemia also often need regular transfusions.
The last amber alert was triggered in July 2024 after a cyber attack on London hospitals.
It said there is a ‘critical’ need for more donors who have the so-called universal blood type – O negative blood – which is needed for treatment in emergencies, when blood type may not be known immediately.
There is also a need for more black donors, who are more likely to have specific blood types which can help treat people with sickle cell disease.
NHSBT chief executive Dr Jo Farrar said: ‘There are many thousands of people who donate regularly and help us keep patients alive. Thank you. You are amazing. You keep the NHS going and save and transform thousands of lives a year.
‘Our stocks over the past 12 months have been challenging. If we had a million regular donors, this would help keep our stocks healthy – you’d truly be one in a million.
‘Please book an appointment today, experience how good it feels to save lives, and come and do it again in a few months.’
One family is backing the campaign for more donors due to their own experience receiving regular blood transfusions.
Four-year-old Isaac Balmer, from Hull, was born with hereditary spherocytosis – a genetic blood condition which causes red blood cells to break down faster than normal, leading to severe anaemia and other complications.
He receives blood transfusions every 12 weeks.
His mother Jasmin Suggit, a newborn hearing scanner at the hospital where Isaac receives his treatment, said: ‘It’s been a rollercoaster; Isaac’s haemoglobin levels fluctuate, and when they drop significantly, he becomes lethargic and jaundiced.
‘But when he receives his transfusion, you see the colour return to his cheeks, and his energy levels soar before our eyes. It is incredible.
‘During his transfusions, he refers to donor blood as “Hulk blood” and imagines himself becoming stronger and healthier, but this wouldn’t be possible without the real life, everyday superheroes who keep Isaac and others like him alive, thanks to their regular blood donations.’
Health Minister Baroness Merron said the government was working to make donating blood easier by opening up new donor centres and making appointments available closer to home.
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