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Leeds blood service cuts ‘threaten’ patient care

21st August 2009

Patient care in West Yorkshire could be under threat if plans for swingeing cuts to the blood service in Leeds go ahead, Unite, the largest union in the country, has warned.

Unite has asked the National Blood Service (NBS) to rescind plans to axe 45 staff in donor testing and records in November, with a further 40 redundancies in the blood processing unit by May next year.

All that will remain will be a stock holding unit, which Unite believes will be insufficient for Leeds, with the largest teaching hospital in the country, and for the surrounding hospitals.

This will mean that emergency blood supplies will then come from Sheffield, Manchester and Newcastle. 

Terry Cunliffe, Unite’s lead officer for health in Yorkshire, said: "At best, this will lead to a delay in the patient receiving this life saving unit. At worst, the patient will not receive it and they may pay with their lives.

"Simply put, an emergency product is just that. It is needed now, not in three hours time, as the patient might not survive that long.

"The  nationwide consolidation by the NBS has already caused problems in the Midlands and South West, where there have been a plethora of hospital complaints about the fact that blood requested has been unavailable.

"There have been 'patient adverse events' i.e. where blood is unavailable for the patient who needs it. Also there have been incidents where planned surgery has been cancelled due to the unavailability of blood and blood products.’

Unite is concerned that these cuts to a frontline service are planned, when administrative costs have spiralled; for example, nationally the blood service had three directors, costing £390,000 a year in 2005 – this had now soared to more than a dozen top executives, clocking up more than £1.5 million annually.

Unite is calling on the NBS’s director of patient services, Clive Ronaldson, to put the Leeds cuts on hold, pending further talks with the union.

• Earlier this year, Unite voiced concern that the NBS plans for a consolidation of
  blood services in England and Wales would cause problems relating to increased workloads and the supply of blood which had to travel over long distances.

ENDS

NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS:

1. Donated blood has to be processed before use. Processing entails the separation of red cells, platelets and plasma, each of which has its own therapeutic use. This processing means that one blood donation can treat three patients.
2. Red cells are typically used to support surgery or in the treatment of trauma. Platelets support patients through leukaemia treatments or clotting disorders, while plasma can be used to treat burns.
3. In 2007, the National Blood Service unveiled a drastic strategy of cutbacks and closures. After campaigns from union members in the service, this was scaled back in January 2008, although the Birmingham, Leeds and Tooting centres still stand to lose their blood processing under the modified strategy.

For further information, please ring:

Terry Cunliffe  07776 202 007, Owen Granfield, Unite’s coordinator for the national  blood service 07768693942, Karen Reay, national officer, health 07798 531 004, David Fleming, national officer, health 07798 531013, Shaun Noble, communications officer (health sector) 020 7420 8951 or 07768 693 940.