Blood: Donors
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of blood donors with Ro blood type have had their donations deferred in the period between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026; and what was the reason for those deferrals.
Answered by Department of Health and Social Care
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for collecting blood donations across England, in order to fulfil hospital requests to meet patient need.
Between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026, there were 60,928 attendances by Ro blood type donors at blood donation appointments in England, 8,021 of which resulted in deferral. This represents 13.2% of Ro donor attendances.
The following table shows the number of Ro donor deferrals, the percentage of Ro donor attendances, and the percentage of total Ro deferrals, broken down by the reason for deferral:
Reason | Number of Ro donor deferrals | Percentage of Ro donor attendances | Percentage of total Ro deferrals |
Administrative | 218 | 0.4% | 2.7% |
Blood Pressure | 59 | 0.1% | 0.7% |
Clinical | 84 | 0.1% | 1.0% |
Haemoglobin | 4588 | 7.5% | 57.2% |
Infection/Contact | 502 | 0.8% | 6.3% |
Medical | 1447 | 2.4% | 18.0% |
No Suitable Vein | 220 | 0.4% | 2.7% |
Other | 308 | 0.5% | 3.8% |
Skin Piercing | 267 | 0.4% | 3.3% |
Surgery | 94 | 0.2% | 1.2% |
Travel/Malaria | 194 | 0.3% | 2.4% |
Vaccination | 40 | 0.1% | 0.5% |
Total | 8021 | 13.2% | 100.0% |
This data is from NHSBT’s Deferrals Dashboard and was extracted on 17 July 2026. It refers to whole blood donors only and does not include plasma or platelet donors.
The broad deferral reasons above cover a range of more specific reasons for deferral. A more detailed breakdown cannot be provided without accessing individual donor records.
It is the intention of NHSBT to start publishing relevant data in this area on a more regular basis in future as part of its official statistical publications.
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