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26 February 2026

How many more donors does Scotland need?

Every day, Scotland needs around 450 blood donors to meet the needs of patients in hospitals across the country. However, fewer people are donating than before, and that puts pressure on Scotland’s blood supply.

19 February 2026

Why do we need more plasma donors?

SNBTS continually balances the need for blood, plasma and platelets with the number of donors available. This changes regularly, depending on what patients need at any given time.

Find out more about high spec O negative blood, and why it's so special.

From 5th April onwards, we will be entering your health check responses directly onto the computer at health screening. This means the session will become more efficient in the long run – but you may initially notice a bit of a delay.

From April 2022 onwards we’ll be asking about your ethnicity to help match blood profiles to patients more effectively.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service has begun testing to find out whether donors have had Hepatitis B in the past.

Information on when you can give blood after travel outside the UK.

At this time, Ukraine has not requested support for blood supplies.

William McCook began donating when he was just nineteen.

Current blood stock levels across Scotland Sunday 01 March

We aim to retain 6 days of stocks at any time in order to meet the requirements of patients in Scotland.

Learn more about blood types