Blood stocks

Blood stock status

The stock status is Amber for group O red cells, positive and negative.

The stock status is Pre-amber for A negative platelets.

Stock status explained

The National Blood Transfusion Committee's (NBTC) shortage plans for red cells, and platelets outline four phases for the supply of blood to hospitals, supported by a framework of actions for NHSBT and hospitals at each phase. The phases are:

  • Green when circumstances are normal and where supply meets demand
  • Pre-Amber when there is reduced availability of blood for a short or a prolonged period
  • Amber when there is reduced availability of blood for a short or a prolonged period which impacts on clinical activity
  • Red when there are severe, prolonged shortages which impact on clinical activity

Best practice

Please refer to: 

To support stock sharing between trusts, or with independent hospitals, we have produced a service level agreement template (Word 68KB) for hospitals to use.

The stock we have available to issue is:

Red blood cell stock levels - text version

O- 6.02 days, A- 15.13 days, B- 5.68 days, AB- 6.59 days, O+ 7.95 days, A+ 8.87 days, B+ 8.33 days, AB+ 13.88 days

We aim to maintain 6 days of stock for red blood cells.

Platelet stock levels - text version

O- 3.36 days, A- 2.13 days, B- 3.00 days, AB- 2.50 days, O+ 2.93 days, A+ 2.92 days, B+ 3.09 days, AB+ 5.75 days 

We aim to maintain a minimum of 1 days' stock for platelets (except AB-).

When stocks are low we may need to offer substitutions (PDF 141KB) based on best transfusion practice.