Blood Service plays down reports of shortages

The Western Health Board has cancelled over 10 per cent of it elective operations in the last week due to a shortage of blood supplies, it was confirmed today.

A spokeswoman for the board said 35 out of 300 scheduled operations were cancelled in University College Hospital Galway (UCHG) and Merlin Park due to blood shortages.

A health board spokeswoman said the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) had contacted the health board on the 24th of January to warn of potential shortages.

The health board said they have been promised contact from the IBTS tomorrow to confirm when normal services would resume.

But the IBTS played down the blood shortages claiming that a slow- down in donations was expected in the weeks immediately after Christmas and that all hospitals were warned in January that supplies for elective operations could not be guaranteed.

A spokeswoman for the IBTS said average weekly donations of 3,000 units had fallen to about 2,600 units in the first weeks of the New Year.

She added recent donor clinics had been very successful and said supplies were now expected to return to normal. Earlier today the National Blood Users Group urged doctors to use to use blood sparingly or find alternatives to blood transfusions where possible.

The group was set up in 1998 by the Minister for Health to promote the development of best transfusion practice in hospitals.

In a statement issued today the group added that it wants doctors to keep in mind that the risks of contracting variant CJD from a blood transfusion are still not defined.

The updated guidelines are being sent to medical professionals throughout the health service.