New NHS blood donor centre opens

More than 400 appointments are expected to take place each week at a new permanent NHS blood donor centre.

NHS Blood and Transplant has opened the new site at Concept House, in Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh, Hampshire.

Health minister Baroness Gillian Merron said it would "make it easier for local people to regularly make lifesaving blood donations".

About 14,000 donors have given blood in Hampshire in the last three years, the highest volume of donors of any county in England.

The NHS wants O negative donors to "urgently" donate, as supplies are "critically low".

About 8% of the population is O negative but it accounts for 15% of the blood used by hospitals and first responders.

The centre is also seeking a particular type of blood to treat patients with sickle cell disease, the country's fastest growing genetic disorder that affects people of black heritage.

About 50% of people from Black Caribbean and Black African heritage have a blood subtype called Ro, which is used to treat people with sickle cell.

Southampton donor centre manager Claire Alexander said: "We particularly hope that people who have donated before will come back and donate again now that we have a permanent centre nearby.

"The entire donation process takes just an hour.

"Each donation can save up to three lives, so every person who comes forward will help us save even more lives across the country."

Steph Davis, 42, from Eastleigh, said she had already booked an appointment at the new centre.

Her son Aiden was transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Southampton General Hospital immediately after he was born because her blood had crossed the placenta and reacted against his own, destroying his red cells.

Aiden, now aged six, thought of blood donors as like "real life superheroes", she said.

"We took it for granted that the blood was going to be there for Aiden, and I dread to think what would happen if it hadn't been."

Abiola Fawehinmi, 45, from Southampton, who has has sickle cell, said people spending an hour to donate gave a "lifetime of hope".

"Blood donations from the black community are vital for treating sickle cell, because for many, a match means a lifeline," he said.

The new donor centre will be open six days a week, and appointments are available to book via app, website and phone.

Mobile blood donation sessions will continue to be carried out around Southampton.

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