New mobile blood collection team for region

The NHS team will visit areas including Wolverhampton, Dudley, Telford, Tipton, Shrewsbury, Kingswinford, and Wednesbury

A new mobile blood collection team is launching in the West Midlands and will hold sessions in community venues across the area.

The NHS team will visit areas including Wolverhampton, Dudley, Telford, Tipton, Shrewsbury, Kingswinford and Wednesbury.

Appointments can now be booked online with more than 430 slots available to book each week, which the NHS says could save over 1,200 lives.

To mark the launch of the new team, local residents can register as a new blood donor, find out their likely blood type, and learn about giving blood at the NHS pop-up shop at the Mander Community Hub in the Mander Shopping Centre, Wolverhampton, from 25-30 November.

The pop-up will be open from 10:00-17:00 GMT, with Sunday hours from 10:30-15:00 GMT.

The NHS says it urgently needs more O negative and B negative blood donors to come forward over winter to stabilise stocks of these vital blood groups.

O negative is the "universal" blood type which can be given in emergencies, while B negative is rare and only found in 2% of the population, leaving it vulnerable to fluctuations.

NHS Blood and Transplant is increasing in the number of local sessions and appointments with the aim of significantly increasing appointments for existing donors, as well as enabling more new donors to come forward.

'Potential to save lives'

In 2021, 9.3% of Wolverhampton's residents identified as black, Caribbean or African.

The NHS is in particular asking people of black heritage to consider donate as ethnically matched blood is vital for the treatment of sickle cell, with a particularly high demand for blood with the subtype Ro.

More than half (56%) of donors of black heritage are likely to have the Ro blood type, compared with just 2.4% of people of other ethnicities.

Programme director for blood supply at NHS Blood and Transplant, Debbie Rahman, said: "Wolverhampton was chosen as it has the potential for us to increase donations from Ro, Black heritage and O negative donors.

"We believe that having the new mobile team and by increasing the number of appointments available, we are able to offer greater opportunity to donate for our donors and build the resilience of our blood stocks."

City of Wolverhampton councillor Obaida Ahmed added: "We are delighted to support this important NHS Blood and Transplant initiative.

"By registering to give blood, you'll be pledging to give others the chance at life when they need it most.

"Every donation has the potential to save lives, making registration more important than ever, and so I would encourage everyone in Wolverhampton to take this opportunity to sign up to give blood and visit the pop-up shop.

"It will only take a few minutes, but the difference you could make is immeasurable."