People with B negative blood urged to donate in Tooting

People with B negative blood type in London (including in Tooting and Wandsworth) are urged to donate as the NHS warns that supplies of this much-needed blood type are running low.

NHS Blood and Transplant is contacting all B negative donors asking them to book in to donate. Existing B negative donors will be given priority access to appointments and are urged to call 0300 123 23 23 they are struggling to find availability.

Alternatively, they can just walk in for an appointment at one of the permanent donor centres in Tooting, the West End, Brixton, Edgware, Shepherd’s Bush, or Twickenham.

Only two percent of the population have B negative blood, making it one of the rarest types. And patients with the B negative blood type can only receive B negative or O negative blood, meaning that low stocks of B negative can also impact emergency O negative supplies.

Those with B negative blood are also asked to encourage family members to register and book an appointment to donate as they are 30 percent more likely to have this blood type than the general population.

Hospitals across England need more than 5,000 blood donations every day to ensure they have the blood they need to treat patients for a wide variety of reasons, including traumatic injuries or accidents, cancer treatments, sickle cell and childbirth.

As well as B negative, there is also an ongoing need for more donors with O negative and RO blood types.

Donating a unit of blood takes just an hour and each donation can save up to three lives. Men can give blood every three months and women every four months.

Book an appointment today at www.blood.co.uk, use the GiveBlood app or call 0300 123 23 23.