This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Blood donations from prisoners'.

Our ref: SD/242217
Dear Perry Icso
Re: Information request
Thank you for your request dated the 9th May 2013, for information from NHS
Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) regarding information on our prisoner policy.
I am writing to advise you that we are able to provide you with the following
information in response to your request.
1) Please confirm that you do not collect blood from serving prisoners,
and if this is the case, please outline the reasons.

Our current guidelines state that serving prisoners should not donate blood.
This is based on the fact that the prisoner population is at increased risk of
transmitting an infection which could then be transmitted to a patient from
their blood donation. Although the testing techniques we use are generally
very sensitive, they do not always detect a virus in the very early stages of a
person’s infection. This means there is still the possibility that a virus may be
present in the donor's blood in the interval between acquiring the infection and
our ability to detect that infection (this is known as the 'window period').
Although any individual prisoner may not be at 'high risk', the prisoner
population as a whole is. Unfortunately, the 'window period' cannot currently
be reduced to zero; therefore to make the blood supply as safe as possible all
donors must meet our donor selection criteria before they can donate.
There are a wide range of measures in place to protect the safety of the UK
blood supply, including careful selection of blood donors, processing steps to
minimise the risk of infections, and testing for evidence of infections which can
be transmitted by blood. Donor selection guidelines relating to the safety of
blood are recommended to the Government by the Department of Health’s
independent Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissue and Organs
(SaBTO). The full range of measures in place to protect the safety of the
blood supply are broadly outlined on the Joint Professional Advisory
Committee of the UK Blood Services (JPAC) website:
http://www.transfusionguidelines.org.uk/index.aspx?Publication=DL&Section=
12&pageid=389.
However, our donor selection guidelines are under constant review and are
subject to change.
2) As regards mobile donation sessions for whole blood in typical
community venues, please give details of the minimum expected


number of donations that you require in order to consider a session
practically viable.

An average 4.5 hour, 9 bed session has a target of 120 donations
3) Please give details of any estimates you have made regarding the
number of donations from clinically eligible donors that you could
expect to collect in a typical session in a prison if you were to conduct
such sessions

As we do not collect blood from serving prisoners we are unfortunately unable
to provide this information.  However, we do have at least one blood mobile
session at a prison, which is strictly for prison staff.  Again an average 4.5
hour, 9 bed session would have a target of 120 donations
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes,
including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of
news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would
require the permission of the copyright holder. Some documents supplied by
NHS Blood and Transplant will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on
the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright on HMSOnline at:
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/copyright/licences/click-use-home.htm
Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to
be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the
information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before
reproducing any third party (non Crown Copyright) information.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember
to quote the reference number above in any future communications. In
addition if I can be of any further assistance in any other way please do not
hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Ian Hamerton
Head of Donor Services

E-mail: xxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or
request an review of our decision, you should write to: Head of Donor Services, NHS Blood and Transplant, Oak
House, Reeds Crescent, Watford, Hertfordshire WD24 4QN (Email: xxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
).
If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information
Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
complaints procedure provided by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF.