Blood banks shut early, patients suffer

With most blood banks and collection centres in hospitals open only between 10 am and 5 pm, recipients and voluntary donors are put to inconvenience, say experts.

Youngsters, who are the most eligible candidates for donation, give voluntary donations a miss as the timings of blood banks overlap their work hours, say experts. In most blood banks, trained staff are not available to work in shifts forcing them to shut doors on voluntary donations.

Raghav (name changed) had his sister admitted for treatment of cancer. She was due for chemotherapy soon. However, Raghav had to run from pillar to post for two units of blood. The government hospital from where he hoped to get it was shut.

Having storage facilities and keeping doors open for a voluntary donation for longer hours is the key to ensuring a constant shortage of blood, says Alphonse Kurian, chairperson, Lions Blood Bank, Sanjaynagar.

“Volunteers usually prefer to come in after work hours. They usually prefer the evening hours. Keeping blood banks open for longer hours is crucial to increase the number of donations,” he said.

Contrary to what experts have been saying, authorities managing blood banks in government hospitals say they would rather have the donations happen in the morning hours.

“In case of an emergency, we have patients donating. We accept it. However, for voluntary donations, we do not encourage evening time. We also believe that it is not favourable for the donor. Morning hours are better since, in case of adversity, it could be addressed better,” said Dr R Sreelatha, head, department of transfusion medicine, Victoria Hospital.

Dr C Ramachandra, director, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology said voluntary donations are accepted up to 5 pm. “It is easier to manage logistics,” he said.

An official with the medical education department said that with a lot of government blood banks grappling with staff shortage, they are unable to accept voluntary donations round the clock.