Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of blood donor centres that are asking (a) new and (b) returning blood donors to sign up to donate bone marrow.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood donation services in England, and also manages the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry, previously the British Bone Marrow Registry, which facilitates the donation of stem cells either via blood or bone marrow donation, used to treat forms of leukaemia and some other serious inherited conditions. In 2024/25 there were 27,945 NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry registrations, 23,108 of which were recruited via blood sessions.

Eligible blood, plasma, and platelet donors aged between 17 to 40 years old are asked to join the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry when they attend a donation session. Due to the need to take an additional blood sample for typing, registration takes place during the session. NHSBT emails new and returning donors who are eligible for stem cell donation ahead of their blood donation appointment to highlight the impact of stem cell donation and to encourage them to sign up to the stem cell registry when they attend. NHSBT also periodically contacts eligible new blood donors who have not yet attended a blood donation session, and lapsed blood donors, offering a buccal swab sample which can also be used for typing.

To further encourage sign up, NHSBT uses stem cell champions on blood donation teams, which are nationally and specially trained event assistants that are present at sessions with high numbers of minority ethnic donors and young men. NHSBT is also looking at ways to capture a new donor’s intention to join the stem cell registry during their registration online by asking them to register an interest, which is then highlighted to staff on their donor record during donation.