§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many units of blood have been supplied by the national blood transfusion service to non-National Health Service hospitals in each year since 1970.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIn 1982—the earliest year for which we have figures — regional blood transfusion centres (RTCs) in England and Wales issued 31,437 units of blood to non-NHS hospitals. The corresponding provisional figures for 1983 and 1984 are 40,786 and 49,391. We do not have information centrally on the number of units supplied to non-NHS hospitals through NHS hospital blood banks. Some of the apparent increase 329W is probably due to non-NHS hospitals increasingly obtaining their supplies direct from RTCs rather than through hospital blood banks.