The NHS is appealing for people with O-type blood to urgently come forward and donate, after blood stocks dropped to "unprecedently low" levels in England.
Officials have also issued an amber alert asking hospitals to restrict use of O-type blood to essential cases or use an alternative where safe to do so.The latest data from NHS Blood and Transplant shows stocks of O-negative and O-positive blood running below the six-day target. Since the cyber-attack in June, a number of major London hospitals that contracted with Synnovis, including King's and Guy's and St Thomas', have not been able to run those checks as quickly as normal.
NHS Blood and Transplant is asking both O negative and O positive donors to urgently book an appointment at a donor centre.That triggers contingency plans asking hospitals to restrict the use of O-type blood to essential cases, and allowing services to move staff to laboratories to carry out checks more quickly.