Blood shortage looming in Dutch hospitals as delayed surgeries are caught up

Hospitals in the Netherlands are facing a looming shortage of blood. The demand for blood was extra high over the past months as hospitals started working to catch up on surgeries postponed during the coronavirus pandemic, blood bank Sanquin said to AD.

"Hospitals are really catching up in terms of operations, which means their blood orders are constantly high," a Sanquin spokesperson said to AD.

The blood bank is therefore calling donors to make an extra donation. Though relatively many are not responding to the call due to Covid-19 symptoms or being on summer vacation.

Sanquin needs an average of about 15 thousand to 16 thousand donations per week. Blood does not have a long shelf life, which means that stock can't be built up.

Currently, the blood bank has about 400 thousand registered donors. "That is not a shortage, but also not a surplus," the spokesperson said. Sanquin is therefore actively recruiting more donors.