NHS Blood and Transplant has come together with Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The partnership is sending vehicles around the community to prompt individuals to act by giving blood or putting their name forward to donate their organs. Marketing services in Hayes could be used to advertise the NHS Organ Donor Register in the future.
The chief executive of the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Shane Degaris, told the Ealing Times:
“Signing up to the NHS Organ Donor Register and giving blood is something that many people want to do but just don’t get round to. We hope that this message on our Trust vans reminds people in the local community to take action along with the details of where to go for more information."
Hillingdon is the second biggest borough within the capital, with more than 270,000 residents inhabiting this part of West London. This means that the area has the potential to deliver a lot of new donors.
Certain ethnic groups are more likely to have unusual blood types and the NHS is especially keen to communicate with these groups more effectively to promote targeted blood donation.
On a national scale, the waiting list for transplants has about 6,500 people on it.