NHS calls national blood shortage amber alert

A combination of factors, including high demand for O type blood at hospitals due to a recent cyber attack affecting London hospitals and a decrease in blood donations because of many missed appointments at donor centers in urban areas, has led to a substantial decrease in blood supplies.

NHS Blood and Transplant sent a message to hospitals asking them to be careful with O type blood and use other types if possible. They are especially looking for O negative and O positive donors to schedule appointments at donor centers as soon as possible.

Currently, there is a shortage of O Negative blood supply in the country, with only enough to last 1.6 days. Overall, the blood supply for all blood types is at 4.3 days. Each week, there is a need to fill around 50,000 appointments for blood donations. Donor centers still have over 12,000 appointments that need to be filled in the next two weeks.

An Amber Alert is a crucial component of the NHS's emergency plan for maintaining an adequate supply of blood. It allows hospitals to: