"I certainly echo the noble Baroness’s comments. It is thanks to the generosity of donors—including the noble Baroness herself, who is I know is approaching her 50th donation—that overall blood stocks are at target levels, but she is right about the extra pressures coming through because of winter. The launch …..." Baroness Merron - View Speech
"My Lords, NHS Blood and Transplant has expanded donation capacity to meet the nation’s needs, opening three new donor centres and additional mobile sessions, adding 3,900 weekly appointments. However, blood stocks remain fragile, and we urgently need more donors, with 71,000 appointments still to fill over the festive period. I …..." Baroness Merron - View Speech
"The noble Lord gives a good example—sometimes we need other people to sort us out to give blood—but the main point he makes is absolutely right: we need to speak to people through our campaigns. Each donation can save up to three lives. We need to tell people the effect …..." Baroness Merron - View Speech
"We are making considerable progress in diversifying where plasma comes from. We are also making good progress in demand management and ensuring that there is no waste in blood products, which will also greatly assist us. I shall be pleased to write to the noble Lord with a full description …..." Baroness Merron - View Speech
"The noble Lord is also to be congratulated, of course. As he said, despite our having some 790,000 regular donors, only 2% of the population gives blood, so we are not full up and we look forward to more donors. To the point that the noble Lord raises, which is …..." Baroness Merron - View Speech
"I am not sure that I agree with the reflections of my noble friend, although I do agree that we have a shortfall of some 200,000 donors to shore up and grow our blood supply. As I said, the situation remains fragile, which is why we need more support. We …..." Baroness Merron - View Speech
"Of course, is the answer to the noble Lord. On his point about reaching certain groups, we have invested across 51 organisations this year that are very much rooted in the community, and 31 of the projects across those organisations have worked nationally to boost awareness, understanding and behaviour change …..." Baroness Merron - View Speech