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Emergency Planning: Development of an integrated plan for the management of blood shortages

  • Document type:
    Guidance
  • Author:
    Department of Health
  • Published date:
    22 July 2004
  • Primary audience:
    Professionals
  • Publication format:
    Electronic only
  • Gateway reference:
    3344
  • Pages:
    5
  • Copyright holder:
    Crown

This paper sets out an integrated plan for blood shortages.

Introduction

This paper sets out an integrated plan for blood shortages.   The objective of the NBS, working with hospitals, is to ensure that those patients who need blood can receive a transfusion regardless of their geographical location.  Once implemented, arrangements will ensure that:

  • blood is available for all essential transfusions to patients equally across the country
  • overall usage is reduced to ensure the most urgent cases receive the supply which is available.

This plan has been developed to be integrated with NHS emergency planning arrangements and will supersede previous NBS arrangements for managing blood shortages.

This document is a summary of the new contingency plan for the management of blood during situations which have caused a shortage, leading to the activation of the NBS emergency plan. The full plan will be issued to Transfusion Laboratory Managers and Consultant Haematologists with responsibility for transfusion in Trusts shortly.  This will include an implementation timetable.

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