HC Deb 16 November 1989 vol 160 cc425-6W
Mr. Frank Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the members of his Department's advisory committee on the national blood transfusion service;

(2) what assessment the advisory committee of the national blood transfusion service has made of the effect on the number of volunteer blood donors coming forward of the introduction of blood donor sessions in North East Thames regional health authority supervised by nurse managers alone;

(3) whether any regional health authorities, other than North East Thames, have indicated their intention to introduce blood donor sessions conducted by nurse managers alone;

(4) whether he will list the independent assessors who examined the procedures of North East Thames regional health authority for blood donor sessions conducted by nurse managers alone.

Mr. Freeman

The advisory committee on the national blood transfusion service (ACNBTS) last met in February 1988, and has since been disbanded. When it looked at the procedure of specially trained nurses managing blood transfusion sessions, it examined the reports of 20 assessors, who were made up of non-blood transfusion consultant haematologists from the North East Thames region, representatives of the regional medical committee (including one member of the BMA regional committee for hospital medical services), nursing officers from other transfusion centres, and non-transfusion centre nursing officers from other regions, in addition to members of the ACNBTS itself.

Based on the finding of the assessors, and a study of the detailed protocol for the scheme, the ACNBTS decided that the new procedure presented no risks to donors.

The North East Thames regional transfusion centre has indicated that there has been a very positive donor response to the introduction of this procedure as standard practice, with an increase of some 7,500 donors attending during 1988 as compared with 1987.

I understand that eight regional transfusion centres have expressed an interest in sending some of their nurses to North East Thames, to participate in their specially designed training courses. However, the decision to introduce a specially trained nurse-managed donor sessions in another regional transfusion centre is for the region to make, in consultation with the national director of the national blood transfusion service. I understand from the directorate that no other regions have informed it of definite plans to introduce blood donor sessions conducted by nurse-managers alone.