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THERE MUST be greater coherence in the approach of hospitals to the management of patients who refuse blood transfusions, a conference at the Coombe Women and Infants’ University Hospital has heard.

Jehovah’s Witness Belinda Slator said fellow believers were frequently challenged by medical staff when they said their religion did not permit blood transfusions. “This phrase keeps coming up: ‘So you mean you’d rather die, is that what you’re saying?’ . . . ‘or you’d let your children die’,” she said. “You hear it all the time.”