NHS and DVLA to encourage would-be drivers to become blood donors

Within the scope of the campaign to increase the number of donors, people who apply for a driver’s license will be encouraged to donate blood.

Authorities estimate that the message containing a link to register as a blood donor in emails following driver’s license applications will be seen by millions of people every year.

As more than half of regular blood donors are over 45, the NHS hopes to appeal directly to young people by encouraging those applying for a licence.

Tim Moss, chief executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), said his organization was “uniquely placed to help raise awareness” as it handles millions of driving license applications each year.

People can donate blood from the age of 17 and register from the age of 16.

The new scheme is being run jointly by the DVLA and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), the body that oversees England’s blood donation system.

“You can both learn to drive and start donating blood at the age of 17,” said Altaf Kazi, deputy director of partnerships at NHSBT.

“So this new partnership with DVLA is a great opportunity for the NHS to reach more young people who have a lifetime of donors ahead of them,” Kazi added.

The two organizations hope to repeat previous success, where the driver’s license application has included the option to join the organ donor registry since 1994.

According to NHSBT, around 70% of people who registered did so through this prompt.

Hospitals across the UK need 5,000 blood donations every day to treat patients with a wide range of conditions, including traumatic injury, birth, blood disorders and cancer treatments.

Earlier this year the NHS warned it continues to face a “challenging” blood shortage, calling for 200,000 new donors to come forward to maintain a safe and reliable supply.

Concerns about blood supplies led the health service to issue an “amber alert” last year; This meant that stocks were running low enough to affect the treatment of patients.

While stocks have remained low since then, officials warned there was a “critical” need for more donors with O-negative blood that could be given to the majority of patients.