Hansard

It is a great privilege to lead this debate on the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service. As with so many scientific breakthroughs, it was in Scotland that the first successful blood transfusion was carried out, by James Blundell in the early 19th century. A century later, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service was created. Since its establishment, the service’s diligent and vital work has saved countless lives. Indeed, the SNBTS helps to procure not only blood but life-saving platelets and plasma.

I hope to achieve two main things in my contribution today: first, to highlight the phenomenal work of the service, in particular over the past two years; and secondly, to focus on Scotland’s need for more blood donors as a matter of some urgency. I put on record my thanks to Julie Bonner from the service for her excellent briefing ahead of the debate.

I am a fairly regular blood donor. My next donation, which is due in February, will be my 18th in total, and I hope to achieve my 20th donation at some point this year. It was donating blood and talking with the service’s ever-friendly team, and hearing about the current plight in relation to active blood donors, that inspired me to lodge the motion for debate. By complete coincidence, the mobile blood donation unit is in Coatbridge today, at the Old Monkland community centre, so if anyone local is able to attend, please consider booking an appointment. I give my thanks to North Lanarkshire Council for continuing to find venues to enable blood donation to happen.

Throughout the past two years, and well before that, the team at the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service have worked tirelessly, day in, day out, to ensure that our national health service has an appropriate level of stock. The service continued throughout the pandemic and, in general, staff were not redeployed to other roles—something that the public does not always know. The team are now tired, as are those in all sectors, given staff absences and isolation, and I hope that they will be supported by the Government as we move forward. I feel that, in some ways, they are often the forgotten arm of our health response to the pandemic, and it is vital that the Parliament recognises and commends each and every one of them for their dedication and their sacrifices.

Members should be in no doubt that the SNBTS is vital, because, without blood supplies, so many essential life-enhancing and life-saving operations and procedures would simply not be possible. However, as a result of the situation over the past two years, Scottish hospitals are currently supplied by the smallest pool of blood donors this century. During 2020, the number of active blood donors in Scotland fell from more than 105,000 to fewer than 92,000. That is likely a result of people leaving their houses less often during restrictions; being worried about catching the virus or perhaps being unwell; or not being aware that they could give blood during that period. There was a real-terms reduction of nearly 13 per cent, which means that 13,000 fewer people gave blood in a single year. Although the donor base has started to rebuild in 2021, and Scotland now has 96,000 active blood donors, it is still well below pre-pandemic levels.

There is a varied picture across the country. For example, the statistics for Coatbridge suggest that there were 534 active donors in 2019 and 409 in 2020. At the current count in 2021, there were 364, so there has not been an increase in my local area. There is a 61 per cent to 39 per cent split between female and male donors, which is perhaps somewhat surprising, as men are less likely to have low iron levels and can donate every 12 weeks as opposed to every 16 weeks for women. I make a personal plea: come on, Coatbridge and Chryston, and come on, men—let us do this.

If people need even more reason to give blood, research suggests that it can be beneficial for the health and wellbeing of donors, too. I join the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service in calling for more people to come forward and give blood. Whether you have never given blood before or have not done so for a while, please come forward, especially now, as we are at the height of winter. Some people are not able to give blood—for example, if they have had a blood transfusion previously—so please check your eligibility before booking. Do not worry, however, as you will be given a health check before donating, during which your iron levels, among other things, will be checked. You will never continue through to donation if there is any identifiable risk to you—it is a thorough process.

People can find more information, including on Covid-19 safety protocols and how and where to donate, on the website www.scotblood.co.uk. They can also set up an account on the site and use it to change, make or cancel appointments at donor centres and at community day sessions. There are eight different blood groups, and the service aims to retain a five-to-seven-day supply of all eight groups at all times. That means that your blood will always be needed, whether you have a rare or a common type, so please do not worry about that—you will be welcomed with open arms. Rare types are needed because they are rare, but common types are needed because they are common, so everybody’s blood is needed.

There are three different types of donations: whole blood, which is the most common type; plasma, which was recently reintroduced after an extensive ban; and platelets. At my most recent appointment in November, I spoke to members of the team about platelets, and I am considering that for the future.

In order to inspire donations, the National Blood Transfusion Service has an amazing stories initiative, in which recipients of blood tell of the huge impact that donation has had on their lives. Earlier this week, when the debate was confirmed, I put out a call on my Facebook page asking constituents who had received blood and wanted to share their story to get in touch. I thank all those who took the opportunity to email me their stories, and I will share two of them just now.

Jane from Gartcosh said:

“I had an emergency section when I had my now seven-year-old. I lost a lot of blood after a delivery, which then resulted in needing a transfusion. Before I had the transfusion I was unable to even stand on my own, never mind look after a newborn. After I had the transfusion, I was kicking my height—massive over-exaggeration there, but it made a huge difference to me. The only downside is I can’t donate.”

Debbie, who is not actually a constituent of mine but works locally and therefore saw my post, said:

“Following a pulmonary embolism”—

this is a lengthy quote, Presiding Officer—

“I was put on blood thinners and very steadily started losing blood. In August, this came to a head. After suffering from endometriosis erupting as a result of the blood lost gathering in my uterus, I became very, very unwell. My family were extremely concerned and phoned an ambulance. At this stage, I was so weak I could barely stand. My heart rate was high and I was struggling to breathe. As soon as I was admitted, doctors were concerned and moved very quickly. My blood count had dropped from 115 to 65 within a week. I was told 55 can mean heart failure. I had at most two days left before things were critical. I received two units of blood and one unit of iron. Without the transfusion, I would very likely have died. I have been back to work full time since September. This is the first time I’ve been able to work consistently since contracting Covid pneumonia, and the subsequent pulmonary embolism, since December 2020. The blood transfusion saved my life. I am feeling the most well I have for a year and I’m so thankful that someone donated the blood to save me.”

What more can we all do? MSPs and other elected members can promote the service’s work and share social media posts, particularly when we have mobile units in our areas. We should always promote the pre-booked appointments, as the system works well and avoids the queues that there used to be, as people will remember.

Businesses, public sector bodies and all other employers should allow staff time off during their working day to donate locally. They should incorporate that as part of their social responsibility initiatives or whatever they have in place. I will certainly write to local organisations in Coatbridge and Chryston about that.

I ask local authorities to continue to make venues available. The service has notified me that it has experienced increased difficulty in getting access to the usual venues since the pandemic. That might be due to those places being used for vaccination or testing clinics or to changes in staffing. Whatever the case, I ask local authorities to treat giving blood with the same urgency and to make venues available so that people can donate locally.

I, again, put on record my heartfelt thanks to the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service for its work. I also reiterate the plea for anyone who can to consider donating blood. Over the past two years, we have learned how to respond to a health crisis with great dedication and a community spirit. I ask people to consider giving blood even once or twice a year in the same way. Like what we have done over the past two years, it really could save a life.