The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A Spalding nurse is urging people to continue to give blood during the current COVID-19 crisis.
Mark Le Sage is urging people to keep any blood appointments they may have and urging others to sign up for the vital service.
While coronavirus continues to be the main focus of health in the UK, the country still needs to maintain its vital blood supplies for use as and when it’s needed in other emergencies.
Mark, who is a trained theatre nurse, has been donating since he was just 18
He said: “Giving blood is a great thing and it’s very rewarding.
“It’s considered a medical essential so people can go to give blood at the many venues across South Holland.
“It’s amazing what they do now as well when you get an email or text a little after you’ve donated telling you exactly where and when your blood was used to help a patient.”
The government classes blood donation as an essential trip and continue to urge people to donate as normal.
However those over 70 and in vulnerable health are unable to donate.
Extra safety measures have been introduced at donor sessions while there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus being passed on through blood or platelet donation.
Mark has been on a mission to get more people to sign up and says he has already helped enlist about 50 new donors.
“We’ve had a great response so far,” Mark said. “But it would be great if even more people signed up.”
A spokesman for the NHS said: “We have introduced new measures to improve social distancing at our centres.
“This might mean you are asked to wait outside or find delays because we can’t use all the donor chairs.
“Our teams are trained in thorough universal hygiene precautions to prevent the spread of all infections. Safety is our number one priority.”
You can sign up to become a donor and find more information at www.blood.co.uk
