For the first occasion since 2022, blood has been brought in from the UK to counteract an insufficiency of specific types according to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service. Early Friday morning saw the importation of 270 units of O RhD Negative, A RhD Negative and B RhD Negative from the UK’s NHS Blood and Transplant organisation.
Continuous increased hospital demand and rising tendencies in patient services impelled the Irish Blood Transfusion Service to reconsider the management of scarce blood groups’ supply, says the medical and scientific director Dr Andy Godfrey. The Service is now coordinating with other blood organisations to augment stocks when necessary.
In the past, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service frequently imported blood from other countries. However, it has only occurred four times within the past five years, with the most recent instance in December 2022, said Dr Godfrey. He further commented that while it isn’t typical, it also isn’t rare and is something experienced by other European blood establishments.
He reflected that, prior to now, the NHS Blood and Transplant service has also imported from Wales, and there have been instances of France bringing in blood units from Germany in the preceding few years. He suggested these arrangements are increasingly typical as blood institutions aim to match blood supplies more accurately to patient needs.
Stricter regulations for blood specifications, prescribed by the European Blood Agency, have necessitated more reliance on other nations, added Dr Godfrey. An amplified demand, higher deferrals, combined with these restrictions, led to the current situation which isn’t quite urgent but is getting close to a pressure point.
Without such importation, the situation may have necessitated an amber alert. This would have urged hospitals to avoid using blood for routine procedures, potentially leading to operations being postponed.
In recent times, the IBTS appealed for blood donors which successfully gathered 8,893 blood units. However, a continual shortage of RhD Negative blood persists due to the increasing demand surpassing the small proportion of RhD Negative donors in the overall population, explained Dr Godfrey.
To adapt to this issue, Dr Godfrey emphasises the overreaching aim to avoid any negative influences on patient care. Therefore, instead of curtailing the supply to hospitals, the IBTS plans to follow standard practice. This includes liaising with various other blood services to share these scarce resources.
Dr Godfrey further emphasised that the efficient use of blood resources is now a standard procedure across European jurisdictions. He also urges blood services to foster collaborative relationships to manage this challenge.