People with diabetes from the West Midlands area needed to give blood
If you have diabetes and live or work in the West Midlands area, your blood could help maintain and improve the quality of blood tests used in the management of diabetes.
The UK NEQAS service for Glycated Haemoglobin is part of the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust. It seeks to ensure that all laboratories provide accurate and comparable results across the UK for this important test of long-term diabetic control.
Every month, samples of diabetic volunteer donors’ blood are sent to almost 400 laboratories for them to measure glycated haemoglobin and report back their results to UK NEQAS for assessment.
Volunteer donors come to a routine blood donation session at the main National Blood Service donation centre in New Street, Birmingham, at a date and time that is convenient for them.
All travel expenses are paid. Donors are registered and called in rotation. They can choose to join or leave the panel of registered donors at any time.
Donation procedures are identical to those for people giving blood in the normal way for transfusion.
The usual NBS health check questionnaire is completed and consent given for the usual tests for infectious diseases. Medical staff are always on hand for any questions or concerns.
UK NEQAS is particularly interested in recruiting younger people with Type 2 diabetes and people from ethnic groups who may have different types of haemoglobin. Donors will only be required to donate blood once to twice a year.
If you have diabetes, are otherwise fit and healthy, are aged between 18 and 55 years and would like to register on our panel of donors, please visit the UK NEQAS website where you can register online or download an information leaflet.