AQW 2750/17-22

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 26/02/2020
Answered On Date: 21/08/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health whether he intends to remove any differentiation in arrangements for giving blood between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Answer:

In July 2017 the committee on the Safety of Blood, Organs and Tissues (SaBTO) published the Donor Selection Criteria Report which made recommendations on blood donor deferral rules. I considered and decided to adopt SaBTO’s recommendations in February 2020 bringing Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the UK where the changes were implemented in November 2017. I announced the changes on 29 April 2020 and the new policy took effect from 1 June 2020. The press release can be accessed via the link below.

(www.health-ni.gov.uk/news/rules-blood-donation-set-change)