Sir, - Early last year I experienced the blood shortage crisis minutes before my hip operation. "Sorry we have no blood". This is a horrific moment on top of the suffering.
Approximately 90 hospitals with 400 operating theatres with the surgeons are all ready to work long daily hours for the patients. They cannot perform without the blood supply. The problem needs change, funds and determination. There are several major factors to be decided upon urgently.
1. There are thousands of past donors, present donors and potential donors readily available. Pelican House is open Monday to Thursday 9.30 a.m. to 8.15 p.m. including lunch hour in Dublin with centres also in Cork and Limerick. These opening hours are not realistic to most donor workers. The best days are Saturdays and Sundays, say 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and reduce the quiet periods in the Monday to Thursday period. Of course this means more funds.
2. The mobile clinic service is insufficient. I recommend that large assemblies of people at sporting locations like Croke Park and Lansdowne Road be targeted. Space should be rented and equipped where the public, city and country folk and indeed visitors could give blood before or after an event. All the Universities could have allocations properly equipped permanently. Major hospitals at weekends have hundreds of visitors so donations facilities should be available on site.
3. This all needs more funds. At present eight BTSB doctors are considering industrial action for pay parity so cash shortage implications are current.
I recommend that the Health Minister agrees (a) that there was a national crisis in 1997 with a recurrent crisis in 1998 and (b) cash resources must be immediately raised to eliminate the blood stock shortage now and in the short and long term. One option I suggest that he could readily contact the two biggest GAA fans in Government who were recently able to justify £20 million payable to this organisation; £3 million per annum for ten years to BTSB directly is a practical solution to a national recurring problem as outlined. - Yours, etc., R. Walsh,
Dalkey,
Co. Dublin.