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England's largest donor centre 'major milestone'

Neranjana Elapathaand
Charlotte Coles,South of England
England's largest donor centre opens in Reading

England's largest donor centre has opened in Reading, becoming the first to receive blood, plasma and platelet donations under one roof.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) said the centre, which will be open six days a week, was a "major milestone" in its blood supply and plasma resilience strategy.

It opened for plasma donations on 12 October, whole blood collections will begin on 19 October, and platelet collections will follow by the end of the year.

Lee Wright, operational support lead, said: "We're looking to replicate this type of thing across the country over the next few years."

News imageA line of people donating blood/plasma while sat on beds. The man at the front is smiling.
Once fully up and running, the Reading Donor Centre will offer 88 plasma appointments daily, 61 blood appointments daily and 12 platelet appointments daily

Jake Carpenter is a donor who travels regularly from Andover to Reading.

He has given blood and plasma and intends to donate platelets at the new centre, which he said he was "looking forward to doing".

"I really enjoy doing it, I've made lots of good friends here and the staff are always really lovely and I just really enjoy coming," he said.

"It's an easy thing to do and you know that you're saving a lot of lives by doing it."

News imageJake is sat on a bed at a blood donation centre next to a machine. He is wearing glasses and a navy blue quarter zip jumper.
Jake Carpenter intends to donate platelets at the new centre

Jill Jones, who lives in Oxford and has been receiving immunoglobulin transfusions for 20 years, was one of the first people to receive immunoglobulins made from UK sourced blood plasma.

She said the new centre was "great, because previously all my products were being made abroad, so I didn't really have any contact with the donors".

"So this has really made me think about the wonderful people in the UK who are prepared to come in here and give their time up to donate blood and plasma products," she said.

News imageJill is wearing glasses and a blue top. She is stood in the corridor of a donation centre and is smiling into the camera.
Jill Jones from Oxford receives vital immunoglobulin infusions regularly

Jones also said donating made "a huge difference to a lot of people's lives".

She said since receiving her treatment she had not had one hospitalisation for an infection.

"It's not only changed my life, it's changed the life of my husband, my children who were very young when I started having my infusions and it just changes people's lives so it's definitely worth it," she added.

NHSBT said it needed to collect 1.45 million units of blood each year to meet the needs of patients across England.

It said it urgently needed more Black donors, as they were more likely to have the blood type needed to treat the increasing number of patients suffering from sickle cell disease.