MORE blood donations from people with O negative type are needed across Oxfordshire.

And people from ethnic minorities are being urged to sign up as organ donors.

Last year more than 54,000 pints of blood were give in the county but the new chief executive of NHS Blood and Transplant Ian Trenholm is urging others to sign up.

His call came as the new therapeutic apheresis services (TAS) unit opened at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. The four-bed unit will help more people with blood disorders.

Our top stories

Mr Trenholm, who lives in Goring, now wants more black, Asian and minority ethnic people (BAME), and O negative blood group types, to sign up to donate blood and organs. He said: “Having that extra capacity means that we can bring more patients into the unit, there is more capacity and more comfortable space and it is an easier space to work in.”

He visited the new home of the TAS unit and praised the difference it will make to patients. Machines at the centre remove blood from patients, treat it and then return it to the body.

Mr Trenholm said the national blood service was in “great shape”.

But he said twenty-eight per cent of patients currently waiting for a transplant are from BAME communities compared to only six per cent of donors in 2013/14.

Black, African and Caribbean people make up just 0.6 per cent of active blood donors.

This creates problems particularly for people waiting for a kidney transplant because blood tissue types must be closely matched between donor and recipient.

Matching is more likely when both parties are from the same ethnic group so a lack of BAME donors mean people from those communities have to wait longer for organs.

Mr Trenholm said: “We do not have a simple answer but we are working with various community leaders and community projects because that is more effective than, for example, a poster campaign.”

And he is confident research being carried out in Oxford will help to beat more diseases in the long run. He said: “I am passionate about the services that we offer from the John Radcliffe and I want to see Oxford thriving.”

 

THE four main blood groups are A, B, AB and O.

Each group can be either RhD positive or RhD negative, which means that your blood group can be one of eight types. 

Group O is the most common blood group in the UK, with 44 per cent of the population having group O blood. 

To work out your blood group, red cells are mixed with different antibody solutions. If, for example, the solution contains anti-B antibodies and you have B antigens on your cells, it will coagulate.

YOU can donate blood if you: 

have a good overall level of health

Are 17-65 years of age (if it's your first time)

Weigh at least 50kg (7st 12lb) 

To find your nearest Blood Donor Centre in England and North Wales go to my.blood.co.uk/Home and book an appointment online or call 0300 123 23233


 

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.